Brides are like Books

I'm not a tomboy, although I thought I was growing up. I was the little girl in a dress watching everyone else climb up the treacherous "ladder" into the treehouse perched precariously twenty feet up off the ground. I settled in for a nice afternoon of a dolly tea party while my tomboy sister played Cowboys and Indians, and my tomboy mother stretched on a lawn chair to read a book. By hey, I was outside, didn't that make me a tomboy?

It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized I am not a tomboy. Never was, never will be. My favorite color is pink. Always was, always will be. I prefer skirts to jeans and I work part time in a upscale bridal salon, which is the equivalent of tulle wrapped nirvana in many ways for me. I really enjoy working with so many different people and consider it a privilege to be a part of the special planning that weddings entail.

It is also excellent people watching. If you ever want to observe the subtle nuances of body language, study the effects of polite versus impolite phrasing and watch the best and the worst of narcissism, go to a bridal salon on a busy Saturday. You will not be disappointed. There is so much to learn about the human psyche when childhood dreams meet adult reality.

These interactions leave me with invaluable information to use when writing my young adult books. Because really all young adult novels deal with some aspect of coming of age, and there are so few clear transitions such as getting married that highlight each young woman's coming of age. I am accepted into a circle of family and friends under intimate circumstances and privy to information usually concealed. For an aspiring writer, the joyous facial expressions, the rustle of flouncing skirts and the heavy stillness of an unanswered question is like gold.

Brides in many ways are just like books. The good ones can leave you smiling ear to ear, a reminder of what makes a vulnerability a strength, and the bad ones can leave you empty, wondering, "Why did I just waste my time?"