Magic Happens

As posted on Mysteristas, following up after the cancellation of Left Coast Crime, due to the coronavirus… 

I was planning to report on the fabulous time I would have had at Left Coast Crime.  And in a way, this still is about that.  I want to tell you a little tale about magic.  Because for me, the fun of writing is all about magic.  

Hubby and I went a day early to San Diego, having originally planned a mini vacation.  We walked around Old Town that day before LCC, almost carefree of the weight of the world.  Since I’ve been on a mission for several years to find the right flower pot to replace a favorite of mine that had broken some time ago, we headed into one of the shops.  You know that moment when you see something that you can’t possibly walk away from?  Here’s what came home with me:  

I was looking for a flower pot, not a horse.  I certainly wasn’t planning on buying him, and I have no idea why I did--except now I think that maybe it was magic.  

Because as I’ve looked at him, I’ve been reminded of the horse who made an unexpected appearance in my Work-In-Progress.  It’s a fantasy with a mystery in it.  I’m entering the editing phase of that WIP, and I knew I had to do something about the unexpected horse, either cut that scene or make something of it that would fit with the rest of the book.  I know that to make the scene work, the protagonist has to make a connection to the horse, maybe through a treat.  

So I consulted a friend who is a horse expert, and she said that horses love peppermint.  

Seriously???  

My protagonist’s nickname just happens to be “Peppermint.”  And now I know what I have to do with that scene with the horse.  

Writing is magic.