Revenge of the Blog - Julie Weathers

I have been featured and mentioned a couple of times lately in the blog of my (hopefully still after this) dear friend Julie Weathers. I've known this wonderful lady through my on-line writers' group for...a long time, and I've only ever found one thing wrong with her: she could use a bit more self-confidence. So, after she posted a chunk of Dominion with such glowing comments, I promised a revenge blog.

Then I started thinking -- this was hard! What bit would I choose? Aside from being a wonderful writer, she's also a delightful poet and a wit to boot. There is this one scene where some enchanted jars fly around and annoy the wizard's wife while spouting poetry...I wanted to use that one. But then I thought, naaa...she's using that as one of her Surrey entries and it would be just a shame if anyone read it on the internet first. So, I decided not.

Another one of my favorites is a scene where her heroine takes a wrong turn and winds up in a crypt. Now, that's my kind of scene. I'm not sure she fully intended it to be that funny, but it brings to mind all of the times I've gotten lost. But then, I thought...taking that chunk out of context...no, it would lose something magical.

Hm. This was harder than I thought it would be. Not because I don't love so many things she writes, but because I was going to take just a snippet, take it out of context and try to show the world what a fabulous writer this woman is...and then I found a piece she doesn't feel is done. In fact, when I said I might snag bits of it, she seemed shocked and horrified and wanted more time to edit it. <evil grin> Perfect.

I am a big believer in copyrights, so I'm only going to give you a taste of this woman's writing.

Excerpt from "Jeffrey" ©2008 Julie Weathers

"Mother, how was your trip?" she asked as she reverted her attention to the old woman. "You must be exhausted. Come up on the veranda and sit down."

"It was marvelous. You know how I love the mountains in the spring time. The does are just now introducing their bashful babies to the world. I watched one who was perched on a high ledge above the cut. He laid ever so quietly just watching the train pass as he pretended he was invisible to the world of mortals and I dare say he probably was to most of those ninnies. The air is so crisp and clean and the sunshine smells so good."

She helped the aging queen up the stairs just as the coachman followed Elizabeth through the front door.

"Granny," Elizabeth corrected in her most irritating proper manner, "no one can smell the sun." She turned to her mother, "We put Granny's cases in her room."

"Thank you both," the queen nodded regally. "And you most certainly can smell the sun, my dear. In the spring it is a light pleasant smell with just a hint of sweetness and rain. In the summer the lightness turns to rich molten honey squeezing into every pore of the darkened earth."

"What does the sun smell like in the fall?" Jeffrey asked excitedly.

"Ah, I think autumn sunshine smells the best of all. It is the summer honey with just a hint of the deep winter sun. It's spicy and pungent with just an occasional bite here and there to remind us of the approaching blue sun of winter."

Now, can't you just taste the richness of her prose? After I read that, I went out back and lay on the lawn. The cats came and practiced stalking me. I lay there, smelling the sun and letting the warmth ooze into my pores. I forget that there is such richness in the world, but Julie never seems to. Her writing is filled with asides that remind me of the beauty and power of the world. My friend Veronica brought me a jar of honey from her bees yesterday. Reading this snippet again, I suddenly have an irresistible urge to open that jar.