Shawn L. Bird

 “Creations are creatures, and they have lives of their own.”

Louise Penny.  The Nature of the Beast.

I’m reading this Inspector Gamache novel, and Ruth made this comment about a play.  The line after indicates that the play was the playwright.  It seems both powerful and succinctly true.  When we create something, it comes from us, often reflect deep truths about us, but it also becomes itself.  It speaks to those who view/read/listen/watch with its own voice (filtered through or reflecting their voice).  I am often fascinated to hear what readers have taken from my work.  Sometimes they find things I put there, but often they find things that are completely different, and just as valid.  Once the book or poem left my hands, it became its own entity.  It’s an interesting experience.  It reminds me of the first time an adult mentions they know your child- they’ve interacted with them in a way that is unconnected to you, and you realize they have their own independent lives.  Children are creations, too.  They’re equally part of us and completely themselves.  Ah. Creation is a complex thing!

From a writing point of view, what a perfectly crafted sentence for this character.  Ruth is a poet, and doesn’t the line sound like a poem?  Louise Penny is my hero.