<a href="http://rachelstoneswrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/never-give-up.jpg"><img src="http://rachelstoneswrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/never-give-up.jpg" alt="never-give-up" width="250" height="225" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-43" /></a>Since starting this kidlit journey, the way my mind works has changed. I am a different reader, always analyzing and evaluating the story. Movies are no longer mindless entertainment. I analyze the character development, the plot, the resolution. 

It's a curse, really, having your mind always <em>on</em>. But it's a beautiful curse. I can be watching my kids play, and BAM! A picture book storyline pops in my head. I'm minding my own business, conditioning my hair, when a book title falls from the rainforest shower-head. (Not really, I don't have one of those. But it would be nice, wouldn't it?) The point is, even when I'm not actually writing, I am writing in my head, and <em>that</em> is why I write. 

