We’re having unseasonably warm weather in the Pacific Northwest this week, though with climate change it’s hard to tell what unseasonable means any more. I’ve got new seeds in the ground so I’m watering them twice a day, nursing along seedlings and starts. And enjoying the last of the lilac blooms.

Spring is the time to collect delicate and audacious colors, to breathe in new scents, to feel the sun on your skin as if for the first time. Are you writing it down? Touching velvety petals? Letting the smells of fresh-cut grass transport you back in time? Watching the many color changes as the trees transform from pale buds to deep green? Observing roses opening?

When you write, are your stories set firmly in a particular season? Can readers feel the air, smell lavender or wisteria wafting in an open window? What are the sounds of each season?

Keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart