Memories—and Books—Are Made of This

by Ane Mulligan @AneMulligan


Cloudy Fall days call to me with a nostalgic song of … what? I hadn't stopped to examine why I love them so much. But this morning, as I set out to run an errand, that feeling of well-being and happiness overtook me. Today I realized why. 

It takes me back to my childhood.

I was, as most writers are in their youth, an avid reader. My mother had been a teacher, so at a very early age, she taught me to read long before most children. By first grade, I read at a fifth grade level, and I read every book I could get my hands on.

We moved right after my tenth birthday, and I discovered the world of the public library. That's where I found my first Trixie Belden mystery. As a tomboy, I identified with Trixie. When we moved, I left my lifelong best friend and there weren't any children in our neighborhood. Trixie and Honey became my friends.

Maybe the cloudy Autumn days call to me because of those books. The woods stood between Trixie and her brothers' house and that of their best friends, Honey and Jim. Most of the stories took place, it seemed, in Autumn when leaves fell to cover the path they walked, adding a crackling crunch to their footsteps. Smoke curling from a chimney perfuming the air. Hot apple cider to warm them when they came inside.

Those books left an impact that remains with me decades later. And that's what we as writers want to create in our books. That's why incorporating the five senses into our writing is so important. We all have a unique range of senses. Our sense organs take in the stimuli and a mental image or reaction results. 

As a ten-year-old, I wanted to solve mysteries like Trixie and her friends. I never found any good ones, so I lived vicariously through those books. And even now, a crisp cloudy day harkens me back to those times.

What sense evokes memories in you? Is it an aroma? A sound? What are some of the memories you recall? 

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Memories—and Books— are made of this. What do you remember about a book years after you read it? @AneMulligan on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Ane Mulligan has been a voracious reader ever since her mom instilled within her a love of reading at age three, escaping into worlds otherwise unknown. But when Ane saw Mary Martin in PETER PAN, she was struck with a fever from which she never recovered—stage fever. She submerged herself in drama through high school and college. Years later, her two loves collided, and a bestselling, award-winning novelist emerged. She resides in Sugar Hill, GA, with her artist husband and a rascally Rottweiler. Find Ane on her website, Amazon Author page, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and The Write Conversation.