[flickr id=”8577931222″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”true” size=”original” group=”” align=”none”]

No, I’m not going to Ireland. I wish! For Spring Break, I’m going to play in a rugby tournament in St. Louis. Other then that, I’m going to write a lot. I have this beast to work on:

[flickr id=”8576828681″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”true” size=”original” group=”” align=”none”]

Yeah, that’s 144 pages… and it’s only half-way done. Insert smiling yet frazzled emoticon here.

So, as it’s Spring Break, though, I thought I’d share with you a story of my favorite Spring Break.

My best friends in high school and I decided to go up to my friend Adam’s grandparent’s plantation in one of the Carolinas (remember, I’m from Georgia, so people that had a plantation in the family wasn’t common, but it wasn’t unheard of). We bring board games, books, mix CD’s made using songs downloaded from Napster, and a TON of Little Debbie Zebra Cakes because I went vegetarian for Lent and that’s the only thing I’d eat. Stupid, I know.

There was a day where everyone slept in and I was reading The Fountainhead under a giant tree, and then I understood why I wanted to write. It’s not that the book is great or that I agree with Rand’s philosophy, but it’s that I thought it was so interesting that she created characters I hated so much but was compelled to read. Yes, it’s melodrama at many parts and yes she is very didactic, but I can’t help love and love to hate Howard Roarke. I wanted to know how to do that. How could I create a character more dynamic than, “He/She is so great and everyone loves him/her”? How could I write something that was compelling to read, even if you didn’t agree with my ideas?

I read probably 100 pages before my friends finally stumbled out of bed and wanted to explore the town we were staying in. But that solitary moment? That was mine.

And, yes, I’ve had pretty boring Spring Breaks. I usually just sleep a lot, read a lot, and eat entirely too much pizza. What about you, MarginAliens? What’s your favorite Spring Break? Add your story to my margins.