I’ve always been a daydreamer. When I was a kid, it usually translated into some epic imaginary play with my brother and cousins. Nowadays, it ends up providing great creativity to my day-job as a pediatric speech language pathologist and in my night-job as a writer. Daydreaming is a powerful tool of creativity, whether as a carpenter, teacher, game designer, architect…any profession really. In story creating, it’s a foundational element to bridge the gap between the ‘real’ world and the fictional dimension. In daily life, it’s that little bit of glitter on the ordinary. Though many daydreams may take us to new and exciting places, imaginary or real, some of our daydreams can carry more of a homemade scent. I think that’s why I have such fun writing both novels that happen in this time period in my native Blue Ridge Mountains, as well as in historical or fantasy time periods. Homemade daydreams in fiction are those that happen in the known world. Blue Ridge Mountains for me. With this type of daydreaming comes a stronger sense of smell, a tangible touch to the world around me, a physical knowing of the way the weather hits my skin and the…