This weekend I attended the quarterly meeting of the Ozark Writers League in Branson, Missouri. The theme of the conference was Women in Writing. The keynote speakers were August McLaughlin and Paris Afton Bonds, both very successful and strong women. However, there was a second theme swirling around this meeting as well.

Passion.

I’m not talking about physical passion between two people but rather passion of the heart; the passion for life, work, family, career, and creativity.

This emotion is the gravy on the potatoes, salt on the carrots, and the icing on the cake.  It’s a writer’s secret weapon.  Passion keeps us at the computer to wee hours in the morning, back and neck screaming at us to stop. Eyes heavy with sleep. It burns white-hot and is never yielding. Passion to write the story negates the rejection letters. Keeps us hoping and believing in our craft. We’d write…