Spring

How long before spring "springs"?  The world seems cold, although thrushes spend mornings whislting  mating songs, big-chested robins steal worms from the frosty garden and tiny tree frogs fill the night with a low, clucking call.  Skunk cabbages are doing their best to brighten the world with yellow flowers that resemble hands cupped together in prayer.  All these sights and sounds are signs of spring - so why is there no warmth in the air?

The good thing?  Cold mornings make a girl feel the need to wrap her hands around a warm cup of coffee, pull out the chair at the writing desk, drag a fuzzy black cat onto her lap and disappear into a flurry of words.

Second Step

After deciding to honor the strength of my friends, and fearing intrusion on their grief, I began researching diseases similar to what Anna had.  The closest one I found was Tay Sachs http://www.tay-sachs.org.  So, the daughter of one of my main characters develops this disease instead of Sanfilippo.

Not having children myself, I asked friends with daughters and sons what they would think and do if their child were diagnosed with a disease that would ultimately kill them.  Across the board the answer was, "Why would you even want to write such a thing?" 
Why indeed.

For five years Sarah and Mark and sweet little Anna have been my answer.  I have not regretted one word of my novel Ashes and Bones.  Showing love for a dying child harms no one.