So tonight, instead of cooking the fabulous meal for my family I had planned, I reheated leftover pizza in a skillet on my gas stove and sat huddled around a candle for dinner. It turned out to be really fun! It felt like a mini-vacation with no devices or toys or electronic noise in the background, and the family and I truly enjoyed each other's company. We were all in the moment and it made my heart happy. An unplanned power outage has its perks.

Now, 3 hours later and still no power, the house is getting cold and I'm bored but not sleepy yet. I've decided to write a short blog about the art of writing. Since the power is out, no wifi, so this will get posted in the morning.

I've been writing since I was five, and wrote my first full length "book" when I was 10. It was about a girl who was 10 and fell in love with a boy who rode a white horse and rescued her from a swamp… loosely sounds like the plot to Shrek?