Who's Your Crush?

A couple of weeks ago at the distribution center, my teen daughter was playfully teasing another teen girl about someone she liked.

The latter, of courser, would not reveal his name, but I figured it out yesterday when the young man in question passed me in the aisle pushing a shopping cart full of newspapers. Of course, the girl was convinved I had noticed her staring at him or trying to hide a smile, but that wasn't the case, at all. It was simply intuition.

Then she surprised me by asking, "Who's your crush?"

Without hesitation, I answered, "He's imaginary."

The girl looked puzzled.

"He doesn't exist."

The confused look persisted.

"I write fiction," I said. "I have a book coming out this year."

Another carrier interrupted us at that point, and that was the end of it. This morning, being Valentine's Day, I'm recalling another conversation out on the route when, as we threw newspapers, my teens rattled off the names of the various couples featured in Bryony. Everyone, for their own reasons, had their favorite (Of course, we couldn't pair Henry with anbody, but that's another story).

I knew I had done an acceptable job with the story when I realized I was becoming jealous of Melissa. Despite my answer to the girl, in truth, I am "in love" with all of the characters, as well as the storyline and the ancillary details: the line drawings, the music, the recipes, and yes, even the editing, because it's through this last that I erase the subtle and not-so-subtle wrinkles from my prose, which then positively influences my other writing, too.

On Valentine's Day, many people will celebrate romance and still others will focus on the sacrificial love that is the hallmark of the Christian faith. I propose a third, which I hope all my readers will find, if they do not yet have it.

And that is a driving force, a passion for something that consumes you, shapes and spurs you forward--an art form, a cause, ministry--a reason for tumbling out of bed early, lighting the lamp late at night, and making the minutes between these poles, bearable, enjoyable, and filled with a satisfaction so tremendous it defies definition.

Happy Valentine's Day!