November blue

I always find November to be a difficult time of year. It’s sort of a preparatory month. I’m preparing myself for The Big Meal. (Or, in my case, planning how I’m going to avoid eating too much at the Big Meal). And–for relatives.

I don’t want to say I’m not thankful for my family, you understand. It’s just…well. First of all, there are SO many of them. Three sisters, one brother, spouses, children, and then–the children’s children. And in the midst of ALL these people, I’m viewed as the Unemployed, Lacking Direction, Living in Near Poverty, Clueless, Pathetic and Wasting Her Time and Her Talent (When We All Know She Should Be Writing Children’s Books) Let’s-Tell-Her-How-She-Needs-to-Run-Her-Life one of the family.

Yes. I’m the family loser.

Except, I’m also the only one in the family who’s currently overweight (therefore, I only lose in the wrong parts of my life). Oh. Joy. Those not telling me how to run my life will be watching how I load my plate. That means I won’t be able to eat any of the foods made in the time-honor Thanksgiving tradition of butter, cream, bring on the fat and calories. So I’ll be eating…salad.

Now you’re probably wondering what the heck has this whiney stuff got to do with writing? I don’t know about you, but I always find that mining my personal muck is good for character building. Who doesn’t have angst? Knowing that a character has worries just like you (the reader) makes them more likeable. The trick is–you (the writer) can’t let them whine too much. Let them persevere beyond what they’re whining about. And for a really satisfying ending, let them win out over the angst.

In my case, that would be to make $1,000,000 from one of my romances and invite my family over for a Thanksgiving meal where I only serve salad and tell them what they should do with their lives. Oooooh. Satisfying.

And how does this tie in to the “Thankful Theme”? Easy. And I’m sure anyone reading this will agree. I’m thankful Thanksgiving only happens once a year!

Tags: angst, family, Thanksgiving

I’m thankful…

The Queen has decreed that this month’s theme is Being Thankful. So…

1. I’m thankful that we can only afford to keep one car. Because that means we’re polluting the atmosphere less than we did, before.

2. I’m thankful that I need to belong to Weight Watchers, because it means I’m not starving to death.

3. I’m thankful that my kids annoy the heck out of me, because it means they’re healthy, full of curiosity and just plain normal.

4. I’m thankful that we’re experiencing hard times right now, because we’re learning how to live more with less, simply and efficiently. And we’ll appreciate what we have in the future because of what we learned, today.

5. I’m thankful that my husband and I were both laid off this year; we learned that we’re not ready to retire yet. (And when he’s working 50-70 hours a week at his new job in January, we’ll be thankful that we’re out of each other’s hair!)

6. I’m thankful when I get up in the morning and my body aches; it means I’m not dead, yet.

7. I’m thankful that I can’t find a full-time job because it gives me more time to write.

8. I’m thankful that gas prices were so high; it made me slow down, walk more and learn about my neighborhood stores.

9. I’m thankful that the leaves are falling and winter’s coming; it means Spring is right around the corner.

10. I’m thankful I’m a writer. Where others see doom, gloom and conflict, I see…a potential plot.

What are you thankful for?

Panic and Writing

So occasionally I get into a panic.
The voices in my head, the ones usually screaming at the top of their lungs, doing battle with each other, egging me on, behaving like spoiled children… those voices turn into mere murmurs. Or worse — fall silent.
The movie rolling in my brain suffers a tear in the film and stops, flopping around like a dying fish, and slips out of the projector.
The soundtrack turns into a bad rendition of a record being played too slow before it eventually stops.
That’s when the panic really starts.
Usually when I get stuck, sometimes before that, making me get stuck.
We all get that way, when nothing seems to happen, when your mind refuses to cooperate.
What to do, what to do?
What CAN you do?
I usually stress myself out, read what I’ve written a million times and get myself into an even worse panic. I look at other stuff I’ve written and nothing seems good enough. But that just makes it worse, not better.
I have arguments with my muse. Whoever HE is. (It’s a guy, and he likes to sulk) My muse sometimes turns beliggerent and will not cooperate, and I’ll call it out for a showdown. Of course the damned critter resents that and promptly goes off to sulk worse than before. Nothing will be forthcoming.
Oh we’re all just having a heap of fun, at this point.
I sit, stare at the page where I left off, and I draw a blank.
I realize I wrote myself into a corner and I don’t care what happens next.
Well. I do care, but not the way I should.
I’ve just scrapped a good 5000 words I’ve written. They are sitting in another file, because I don’t like them anymore. I don’t like the characters anymore. I stopped caring about them, because they aren’t doing what I want them to do. I let them go off on a tangent — and now I’m paying for it.
The tangent doesn’t work. It slowed everything down and finally made me stop.
So now I made a surgical incision and removed the tumor.
It hurt.
Bad.
I don’t like scrapping parts of a story. I really don’t. I save them elsewhere. I may never use those words, but I won’t throw them out, either.
However, now I’m at the point where the writing still flowed, where I had somewhere to go, and I can let my mind wander once more. I can get to the good stuff.
Sometimes that’s what it takes. Look back at where you’re at, find out where you still like your story and where you start not liking it — and cut it out. Start over. Come up with a new idea, make the plot go your way again.
It’s no cure for Writer’s Block, you can’t always cut out things, because they may not be the cause of the block. But what it boils down to is this: Find out what’s bugging you about a story and try another angle. Even if it means you have to sacrifice something you liked initially.
My panic has changed into a sense of “I can do this” now.
And I can. I believe that.
And if I can, so can you.

And you know… sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery. If you have your writing spot, and the words just don’t come… move to the kitchen table. The living room table. The dining table. Your lap. The bed. The floor. Outside. Hang upside down from the lampshade, for all I care, whatever floats your boat. Move anywhere, but the place you usually write.
If you have a desktop (like me), move the desktop, or if that’s not an option - you remember that pen and paper stuff? It still works. Yeah, you’ll have to type it up afterward, but if you’re not writing at the computer — what’s it matter? I’d rather write something twice, than not at all.
Oh sometimes I take my pen and pad and head to a cafe to write. Or the pub.
That has the additional benefit of being able to observe people in their natural environment.
Make notes. What do they wear? How do they wear it? What’s common, what’s not? Hairstyles, hair colors, hair consistency. Take a note of the carpet, the furniture, the lighting. The drinks being ordered. Have a chat with the barkeep, he’ll tell you what’s popular and what’s not.
Listen in on conversations. If there are words you don’t understand, because it’s new slang you’re not used to, either ask (revealing you listened lol) or note them down and look them up.
Before you know it the character you were stuck on has new habits, or a new favorite drink. Or he has a new phrase he likes.
It gets the creative juices going, and lets face it, when you’re stuck — anything is fair game.

That’s what I do.

What do you do?

Tags: Beliggerent Muse, Stuck, Writer's Block

Writing Prompts

Every now and then I set myself writing prompts.
So I figured I’ll set one here:

Your character is waiting for a bus, when a car pulls up next to her and she’s yanked inside.
Now write it.

Post in a comment, and no more than 500 words.

Tags: Writing Prompt

The real paranormal universe

Let me start this post by saying how much I love my local RWA. Not only do we have some terrific members, we have some awesome programs!

Last weekend I attended our monthly meeting barely able to contain my excitement. You see, we had scheduled a talk from our local paranormal team of investigators!

The group came in dressed in matching black t-shirts and set up their equipment - yes, if you’ve seen the TV show - “The Ghost Hunters” - it was all there. The digital recorders, the FLIR cameras, the K2 meter, all the cool ghost hunting equipment known to man.

As the group went through their presentation, teaching us the difference between apparitions, shadow figures and demons - we learned that the very best ghost hunting equipment is what nature gave each and every one of us. All your senses!

The team ran through many of our local legends and either debunked them, showed some evidence to support some possible oddities, or confirmred they could find no basis in fact. They played EVPs that had me jumping out of my chair and showed images they’ve caught that were truly amazing.

For the believers and the non-believers in the audience, there was something for everyone to either confirm their beliefs or just enough fodder to give their next story some accurate paranormal depictions. If you ever get the chance to talk to a paranormal team from your area, I would definitely recommend it!

If you don’t have a local group - check out my local groups website and get the lowdown on how they do things. You just might find something interesting along the way!

So, are you a believer or a non-believer in the paranormal?

Tags: The paranormal

The power of pen, pencil and paper

First, I love this time of year - the stores are filled with writing gadgets and gizmos. Pads, pens and pencils all in different colors, various shapes and syles to entice me to plunk down some cash. But when it comes to actually using those items to write? Nope. I don’t use them. Instead you’ll find me at the computer tapping the keyboard or on my Palm tapping at my wireless keyboard attachment.

Maybe this is the reason when faced with actually having to write something with pen or pencil my handwriting is barely legible. Like chickenscratch. Okay, maybe worse. In fact I so seldom even sign my name anymore that I’m afraid if they ask me sign my kids out of school or something and check it against my license (that was signed years ago) they’d lock me up for fraud!

So, I’ve decided that this year is going to be different (much to my husbands delight - only his expectations don’t involve pencils and pens ) - Anyway, I’m actually planning to write with all the funky pens I bought this year!

It’s time to limber up those finger muscles and watch the words flow across the paper, watch my penmanship take shape and improve (a girl can hope, right?)

Has the computer become your main writing tool or do you still sit down, chew on the pencil and write your thoughts out longhand? What’s your style?

The Romance Divas - Not Going to Conference Conference!

The Romance Divas annual Not Going to Conference Conference will make you feel a bit less deprived! Amazing workshops, a star-studded guest list and awesome giveaways, all on the Diva forum! Don’t miss it!

Here’s a bit of a schedule update for the Q&As and Workshops…

Wednesday, July 30

Paula Guran, Editor, Juno Books
Q&A on Creating Kick a** Heroines

Laurie Rauch, Editor, Samhain Publishing
Workshop on What Happens After the Contract (aka Editors are People Too!)*

Thursday July 31

Joyce Hart, Hartline Literary
Q&A on Inspirational Romance Stories and the Inspy Market

Sandra Schwab, Historical Romance Author
Workshop on Historical Accuracy and Anachronisms

Friday, August 1

Yolanda Sfetsos, Author of Guarded by Stone
Q&A on Paranormal and Urban Fantasy World Building

Katie MacIver, KatieDidDesign
Workshop on Website Design and Color Selection

Saturday, August 2

Joey W. Hill, Erotica Author
Workshop on Plotting Erotica and Erotic Romance

Rhonda Stapleton, Editor and Author
Workshop on Style and Voice

How about if I list some door prizes?

• What Gwen said” mug donated by Gwen Hayes
• 3-chapter critique of a YA by Simon Pulse author Rhonda Stapleton
• 3-chapter critique of a YA, chick lit, or rom com by Golden Heart Finalist Amanda Brice
• An ebook of your choice from Nell Dixon’s backlist
• An ebook of either Second Sight (paranormal romance) or Dragons’ Choice (fantasy romance - dragon-shifters) from Debbie Mumford
• Ten dollar Amazon gift certificate from Jodi Henley
• Lush stuff from Seeley deBorn
• e-book copy of Chasing Shadows from Erin Richards
• Paperback copy of Iron Horse Rider OR Smiling Eyes from Adelle Laudan
• Book thongs from Angeleque Ford
• 3 chapter critique from Sela Carsen
• winner’s choice of ebook copy of “Not Quite Dead” or “Heart of the Sea” by Sela Carsen
• e-book copy of HEATWAVE by Eden Bradley
• e-book copy of BREAKING SKYE by Eden Bradley
• a box of goodies, trade and paperbacks, bath products candles, etc… All for a fun and relaxing home spa day treat. courtesy of The Midnight Moon Cafe
• 1 download each of Natasha Moore’s Samhain books, The Ride of Her LIfe and The Passion-Minded Professor
• a copy of “Painted Soul” by Mary Quast
• e-book copy of HER CINDERELLA COMPLEX by Jenna Bayley-Burke - Samhain
• e-book copy of PAR FOR THE COURSE by Jenna Bayley-Burke - Samhain
• e-book copy of FOUND by Jenna Bayley-Burke - Wild Rose Press
• e-book copy of NIGHT OF INSPIRATION by Jenna Allen - Phaze
• e-book copy of ON AGAIN by Jenna Allen - Phaze
• $10 gc to Amazon from Kendal Corbitt
• ebook Vampire Oracle: Harmony by MG Braden
• Ebook ARC, Art of Sensuality by Jax Cassidy

Plus a lovely bar of wonderful Chagrin Valley hand made soap, Caramel Pralines jar candle, handmade jewelry, Tarot readings, a Lush box for European Divas/Dudes, a $10 fictionwise gc and much more!