Pops-with-Joy-o-Sity

I realized, as I was re-reading "Stay Awhile," that I have a little pops-with-joy-o-sity meter I keep close by as I write. Scenes and exchanges and moments, for me, need to pop with joy in the Wilfair world. A fizzy, effervescent feeling is my goal, throughout. I want these books to be a happy escape and a sweet keep for hope.

All moments can't pop, of course, and there are sad times and weird times, too. But when an exchange rolls around that should be joyful or twisty-of-stomach, I want the pops-with-joy-o-sity meter to ping hard.

Like, I want the meter's glass to nearly shatter. I'll push a scene to the edge of feel-good acceptability and sprinkle it in gumdrops and grab a blow dryer to heat it something fierce. Then I'll swab the whole thing in rubber cement and drop two heaping handfuls of sequins directly over it. After that goes the cherry, and on top of that, another. If I have a few unicorn stickers nearby, those'll go on, too. And, for the big finish? Glitter is thrown absolutely everywhere.

I'm shameless. I'm a glutton. And I'm only getting worse.

Thank goodness my awesome editor's two favorite words are "too much."