Nick-O-Lantern

My kids insisted on getting pumpkins to carve for Halloween. Three of them. Guess what? All three are still sitting in front of my house perfectly whole. Not a mark on them.  This doesn't surprise me. Yours truly has always been the official pumpkin carver.  And yours truly was too busy to do any carving this year.

"What are we going to do with these pumpkins?" I asked.

My son, Bubba scratched his head. "I can take them in the back by the creek. There's a patch of land and maybe if we dump them there, they'll turn into a pumpkin patch."

Not a bad idea.

"When are you going to do this?"

He shrugged.

Translation:  Whenever he gets around to it. Probably by next Halloween.

So, I came up with another idea. "How about we carve them for Christmas? We can make snowflakes or Christmas tree cut outs."

Bubba grinned. "Or we can carve faces on them and call them  'Nick-O-Lanterns!'"

(For St. Nicholas, in case you didn't get that.)

Before I go, I'd like to thank all who were part of my month-long blog tour for Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China: Those who hosted me, those who visited, those who shared. I really appreciate all the help in getting the word out!

Congratulations to Yolanda Renee, Danielle Hammelef, Christine Rains, Meredith Miller, and Michelle Wallace who were the winners of my giveaway.

My book is part of the SCBWI book promotion. To visit its page go here. Any comments or likes (or shares) would be appreciated!

 Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. This month's IWSG question is, "How has your creative process changed through the years?"

Uh. I dunno. I think I'm still creative as I have always been. But I think it's tempered by technique considerations. I'm more careful about word choices and making sure that my characters are reacting in an emotional way that is consistent with whatever circumstance they are in. I'd say I'm a little more right-brained these days. Not just spewing out words on paper.