Monday Moment #129: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my characters better just by answering the question. I hope you do too.)


Sorry I missed you all last week. I was a bit busy doing the SCBWI-Team-Blog thing, helping to commemorate the 40th anniversary of SCBWI and the summer conference. I hope you followed along on the blog, but if you haven't check it out, it's there for the looking. It was one super special event. And a bit of a dream come true for me.

Whose lap am I all snuggled up on, you ask? Why that's just me and Judy Blume: an icon and my idol.

A giddy me with Judy Blume (I'm not actually on her lap. She invited me to the arm of her chair.)

She was an absolute highlight for me. Judy Blume was the only reason I was a reader in Middle School. I've never really understood that whole freaking-out thing when someone sees a celeb they love and admire, that is until I was in the presence of Judy Blume. It all hit me; what she meant to me as a kid and what she means to me as a writer. The best part? She didn't disappoint. She's even more wonderful than I could have imagined, and I will forever remember her graciousness.

As much fun as I had in L.A., it was also so great to get home.

But something funny happened this time when my family picked me up from the ferry boat after I arrived back in Seattle. I sandwiched in the backseat of my parents' car right between my two girlies: the best place I could be. After I kissed and squeezed each of them, my youngest said, "You smell funny." Just what a mama wants to hear upon returning home.

So then my oldest gave me a whiff. "Yeah, you smell weird."

I replied, "Well, I probably smell a bit like hotel, and airplane, and train, and ferry with an added touch of Judy Blume (that above picture had only been taken hours before)."

Later, when I finally saw my husband, he said the same. "You don't smell like you."

It got me thinking about personal scents and where they come from: our homes, laundry detergent, foods we eat, and especially the products we use. All of those items that create my scent had changed over the week. The mix was all wrong, and my family could tell.

What are some of the things your character does and some of the items your character uses that create his/her scent (or that of another character your MC is around a lot)?