I wonder why 3rd POV "story taling" is such a laborious task for me. When I read back over what I've written of Rita's chapter, I hearken back to my high school days of poisonously cliche plots and--ugh, the "poetic description." The Rita chapter does not sing. It reads like a label on a box of baking soda. What's the formula? It seems like everybody I ask (or who is brave enough to volunteer an opinion) can tell when I'm flowing in my natural voice. I can tell when I'm writing in my natural voice, because at the end of each sentence, I feel fairly confident and satisfied I've said what I wanted to say, in the way I wanted to say it. Rita reads: Blah blah blah blah, and then she blah blah blah. I've a time or two considered pulling Matriarchs from the web, I'm so ashamed of it.