I tap my phone, and it lights up – 4:38 a.m. Words have awakened me. It’s not the typical alarm, but it’s one I often hear. Once the words start shuffling in my brain, I know I might as well get up and head to the kitchen table. The words will not allow me to sleep.
I don’t know why I cannot get inspired in the middle of the day rather than at night. It’s been this way for almost 17 years.
It was mid-July 2006 when I wrote my first newspaper column – 17 years of writing down my thoughts, opinions and life’s happenings. I rarely missed a week to submit a column for the newspaper. That means I’ve written over 800 columns. Oh, my goodness, that is a lot of words. You’d think I’d run out of ideas. If you know me, there’s not much chance I’ll run out of words.
Some weeks it is more of a challenge to come up with a column that I feel good about. I’m my worst critic. More often than not, my heart feels trepidation as I hit SEND to my editor.
I never want to offend or push my way of thinking upon others.
It’s 4:38 a.m. and inspiration hits. What’re ya gonna do? (Photo provided)
My quirky thoughts come from how I was raised, with a bit of humor stirred with a Southern spoon. My vintage thoughts may have a dash of wisdom that comes with age and experience. I hope that my opinions are given with gentleness and kindness.
Writing is hard work. Being creative can be challenging. Finding the right words and then stirring them together to blend into a column that people will want to read is not for the faint of heart or those who don’t want to be awakened in the wee hours of the morning … or is that night?
So why do I write? Because I can’t not write. It’s something I have done for over 20 years.
I recently found journals filled with my thoughts in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Some of them I should burn.
While working on a second book, Soft Words for Hard Times, I am also having fun with ideas for a third book that will be fiction. I might get some help from the stack of journals. After all, truth is stranger than fiction. I aspire to be a writer who can hide a touch of truth amidst creative drama.
Stay tuned for more words coming down the road, around the bend and in the middle of the night.
It’s 6:34 a.m. I need another cup of coffee or a nap. The words I heard earlier are tucked into this column. Maybe they will now let me sleep for a couple of hours. I imagine that when I write a fiction book, it won’t be just words keeping me awake. Plots, characters, and emotions … oh my!
Evil hides behind closed doors in the parsonage of the preacher and his wife in the hills of Kentucky in 1989. Audrey Grace is a quirky and ever-so-funny hairdresser. She holds many secrets. The preacher comes up missing.
Seventeen years ago, I never imagined I would still be writing a column in 2023. Sitting down at my keyboard, I am taken to my happy place where magical words are found, thoughts are processed through a sieve of wisdom and grace, and columns and books are written.
I wish my happy place would be found at 4:38 p.m. when normal people work … but no one ever called this writer … normal.
Janet Hart Leonard can be contacted at janethartleonard@gmail.com or followed on Facebook or Instagram (@janethartleonard). Visit janethartleonard.com.