Day 21 of 84 Days of 84 Ribbons: Scents

Writers are called upon to use all of their senses when describing characters and places in their stories. Smell is often overlooked but creates wonderful, lasting images. When my heroine in 84 Ribbons, Marta Selbryth, moves away from her hometown of Bremerton, Washington, smells keep her connected to her family home and her mother.

Marta and her mom both loved to bake. So did my mom and so do I (when I take the time away from writing and marketing and I’m in need of comfort food). I used my personal experiences to give Marta scents that connect her to home. Marta’s return from school and her stepping into the family kitchen walked her into two scents: cinnamon and coffee. From the time she began kindergarten until she left home at seventeen those meant ‘mom ‘. Cinnamon rolls were the favorite baking comfort food and what could be better than a cup of coffee with those tasty treats! Consequently, when Marta has free time in the Montana boarding house she bakes but doesn’t consciously realize why.

The two scents extend into When the Music Stops, the second book in the trilogy as well. As Marta returns to Bremerton and steps into her family home’s kitchen those two scents reach out to welcome her home. For me they also represent home; now a memory over several decades to when I walked in after school and inhaled my mother’s baking.

Walking into Panera’s or other bakeries triggers that remembrance. I’m drawn to cinnamon rolls or other treats where cinnamon plays as a major ingredient. I even put cinnamon on my lattes. Please share the scents that carry you back home or to a time of fond memories.