Muse Mugging Monday
Writing Prompt
You and your pet are waiting to see the vet for a yearly exam. If your pet could talk to you, what would the conversation sound like? Write a page of dialogue pertaining to the upcoming exam.
Inspirational Quote
“If you have a good ear for dialogue, you just can’t help thinking about the way people talk. You’re drawn to it. And the obsessive interest in it forces you to develop it…”
– Robert Towne
Ask Bonnie
Q: What do you, as a romance writer, read?
– Willa G.
A: As a historical writer, I read a lot of history and reference books. I have an extensive library of both that I rely on to make my stories authentic. When I read for pleasure, I most often read romance.
Johanna Lindsey and Kathleen Woodiwiss are my all-time favorite romance authors. I also read books
by Celeste Bradley, Jenna Peterson, Cassie Edwards, Julia Quinn, Janelle Taylor and Heather Graham.
Solace in the City of the Dead
I’m not a writer of horror or anything remotely spooky, but I do love a nice cemetery. On my list of the best, most beautiful cities of the dead, Bonaventure, in Savannah, Georgia, is at the top of the list. I find solace wandering among the graves of the dearly departed under the moss-laden oak sentinels. My family thinks my pastime is a bit strange, but is it really? I view it as socializing with the bodily impaired. These people lived, loved, laughed and cried as we all do. Each person had a unique story which is remembered by loved ones and marked with a personalized stone.
Located on a bluff overlooking the Wilmington River, Bonaventure was an 18th-century plantation which was transformed into a private cemetery for the who’s who of Savannah. Eventually, it was open for public burials. Writer, Conrad Aiken, and lyricist, Johnny Mercer are among the residents. Savannahians hold such high opinions of Bonaventure that they say “it’s better to be dead and buried in Bonaventure than to be alive and living anywhere else in the world”.
Of the residents, Corinne Elliott Lawton is my favorite. She had a sad ending as suggested by her morose expression and the victory wreath which slipped from her hand and rests at her feet. All accounts of her life indicate that Corinne had fallen in love with a gentleman below her station, and she was forced into a loveless marriage with someone else. She drowned herself in the river the night before her wedding. Her beautiful, haunting monument was sculpted by Benedetto Civiletti of Palermo, Sicily and reads: “Allured to brighter worlds and led the way”.
Muse Mugging Monday
Writing Prompt
In one minute, make a list of things you would see on an African safari and then write a short story using those things on the list.
Inspirational Quote
“If you want to catch beasts you don’t see every day, you have to go places quite out of the way…”
– Dr. Seuss
