Silk & Shadows

[Note from Jessa: I met Maggie Mae at the Romance Writers of America conference in Orlando and fell in love with her logo :)  She was such a powerhouse, moving through the conference like a woman with a mission, I couldn't believe she didn't have a half dozen series published in her wake.  I knew we had to have her here so we could say "we knew her when."  Thanks for guest posting with us, Maggie!  (BTW, all, Maggie told me she's a blog virgin; this is her first guest post. So I do hope you'll say hi!)]

Sunday morning dawned bright and early after the big awards gala. My father drove in from Tampa and met my roommate and I for breakfast before ferrying us off to Orlando International Airport. When he asked the question what did you learn at the conference, my brain was overloaded and hyper-caffeinated. I looked at him like he was speaking to me in tongues. It took a few days for my system to calm done from the experience and truly digest all that happened.

Here’s what I learned at Nationals:

• Amazingly enough my favorite authors are people too. People who put their pants on one leg at a time.
• The stupendous solidarity and support offered to RWA members at all levels was overwhelming. It helps validate our sanity when we are having arguments with out characters at three in the morning. Because now we know that other writers do too.
• That yes, one can have far too much rubber chicken.
• For writers who are pre-published, such as myself, getting a thumbs up and encouragement from writers we consider our literary gods will be something we  remember our whole lives.
• Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz and Sabrina Jeffries are just as entertaining in person as their books!
• That I am entitled to a fan girl moment. Thanks Barbara Vey for being such a good sport!
• Friends should not let friends shop alone at the literacy signing. During the signing I forgot the bookaholics anonymous mantra, “We do not need to own every book we see.”
• For next year, ship all my books before the rush on Saturday.
• That yes, you can have a second fan girl moment when you receive your shipped box of signed books!

So much information, one tiny little brain.

Nationals is unlike anything you will ever experience. I am thrilled I had the opportunity to attend. I applaud the hard work and dedication of the RWA Board pulling off the nigh impossible task of relocating the conference. Whether a newbie or an old pro, it’s worth every cent. I highly recommend attending a conference of this magnitude at least once. I’m already looking forward to Nationals in the Big Apple. A chance revisit the friendships made this year and an opportunity to make new ones.

See you in New York!
Maggie Mae Gallagher

From Maggie’s website, a blurb on her someday-fingers-crossed book:

Born into the nightmare realm Earth has become, Alana Devereaux was raised battling the demons destroying our planet. As a Cantati, it was what she had been bred to do. When humanity’s final defenses crumble, Alana will become the last hope for our survival. Sent back through time, reeling from all she has lost, until she meets the mysterious stranger who fights demons almost as well as she does.

Gaelen Cormac, an exiled Fomorian Fae prince, pulls her into the chess game being played across the globe with the winner taking Earth as their prize. Alana must wage a deadly battle with all the forces of Infernio, even as she wages a dire campaign within her heart.

Alliances shall be forged, ancient enemies shall rise and Alana will be forced to choose. As the last Cantati, she must decide whether she will be humanity’s salvation or its demise. She is…Anointed.

Although I did not attend this year’s RWA National conference in Orlando, I’ve attended in 2004, 2005, and 2008. I have met dozens of like-minded writers over the years and going to the conference taught me something very important—to be proud of my genre.

I grew up in a household where my mother had a subscription to Harlequin Presents and my father thought romance novels were a complete waste of my mother’s time. My father supported my writing dreams in many ways, but in the beginning, he thought I was sacrificing my talents to be writing trash. He strongly encouraged me to write other genres, such as mysteries. So, it’s not too surprising that while I continued to read romances because I loved them, I began to hide my shameful secret from others. I would bury my romance behind a more ‘legitimate’ book on the bus, and flush ten shades of scarlet when people accused me of reading bodice rippers and smut.

I loved romances, but I thought I was a troll for reading them.

My first attempt at a novel was a mystery. A very bad mystery. Why was it bad? Because I hadn’t studied the genre. Yes, I read mysteries—heck, I read almost everything except books I find pretentious and boring—but my consumption of romances far out-numbers the mysteries I read. I was proud of having completed a novel, but I knew it wasn’t the book I should have written. After lots of angst and self-reflection, I began a romance. And knew almost immediately that I’d found my niche.

What does all this have to do with the National conference?

I attended my first RWA conference in 2004 and after that, I never felt embarrassed by my genre again. On a bright, sparking day in July, I walked into a bustling Dallas hotel filled with 2000 people all focused on romance publishing. Professionals from all walks of life. Focused. On a multimillion dollar industry. Wow. There were multiple streams of workshops. Luncheons in rooms the size of football fields. A humongous book-signing for charity. The RITAs. The Golden Heart awards. Wow. Sure, it was intimidating for a first-timer, but truly eye-opening as well. You need to see it to appreciate the scale of this conference.

I went home several days later and told my dad I was writing romance novels. When he wrinkled his nose, I explained to him that it was a billion dollar industry and my chances of breaking in were better there than anywhere—because I loved to read romances. He was a smart guy. He never questioned my decision again. In fact, he supported my every effort and shared my successes with anyone who would listen. And the day I got my book contract, he was the proudest papa ever.

Today, if someone asks what I write, I happily launch into a description of my paranormal heroes and how wonderful it is to write the stories I do. No embarrassment here. Just unmitigated pride.

I know it’s not always practical to flaunt your clinch covers. Or your choices. What’s the worst thing anyone has said about your reading habits? Do you have a great comeback to a romance sneer? Willing to share?

Currently working on: Unpacking from the Romance Writers of America 2010 national conference
Mood: Mouse earred

Last week’s RWA con was — as usual — fun and exhausting, full of shrieking and passion and laying around the Walt Disney Dolphin pool. In short, it would make an excellent reality television show, which just so happens to be this week’s topic.

Due to the crappy reception in the basement where my TV resides, I don’t get to watch many shows. (Plus, there are no Joss Whedon shows to tempt me.) But since I got to meet two of my three fellow S&S bloggers at #rwa10 (following the Twitter hash tag was like experiencing the con through dragonfly eyes — from dozens of different vantage points) I can now imagine the “characters” that would exist in a reality TV show “written” about romance writers at a conference.

The Pretty Girl
The Pretty Girl will be Kim Lenox, who I hardly got to see because she was so popular and dresses nice.

The Smart Girl
The Smart Girl will be played by Sharon Ashwood, who I passed many times in deep conversations that probably involved demons and esoterica.

The Tough Girl
Annette McCleave will be the Tough Girl, because she was the missing quadrant of S&S, and she must have a will of iron to resist the event horizon allure of 2000+ romance writers amassed in one location.

Additional characters will include:

The Wild Child
Played by Monica Kaye, who gets everybody into trouble with her tweets about the lickability of a certain well-known agent. (Those erotica writers; you can’t take them anywhere… without a ball gag.)

The Slut
Everyone group household has one, you know, so ours will be Delilah Marvelle, whose naughty historical bits are on display EVERYwhere but mostly on her blog.

The Token Male
Just as a BFK (Bailey’s, Frangelico and Kahlua mixed into hot cocoa mix or coffee) is enhanced by a shot of whipping cream, estrogen is even more fun with a side of testosterone, so we’ll bring Andrew Shaffer for walk-on/run off appearances.

And lastly, I suppose, we’ll have the Weird One. And that’d be me.

In case you doubt the potential wackiness of a reality TV show based on romance writers, check out this pic of the 500-author-strong book fair:

Oh yeah, that’s drama.  In addition to meeting up with friends and chatting with colleagues, I also scored a bunch of signed books which we’ll be parceling out through the summer, starting with Jessica Andersen’s DEMONKEEPERS plus an ARC of her latest, BLOOD SPELLS.

Just leave a comment anytime this week and you’ll be entered for a chance to win Jessica’s books. To get the party started, which character would you like to be in any popular reality television show?

To put this post in perspective, I should mention that I’ve done a few things in my life that could qualify as adventurous: I’ve gone scuba diving among barracuda in Mexico, snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef, ridden a bus up a steep Spanish mountain to visit a town split in half by a gorge, eaten smoked eel and alligator, ridden a camel, and pet a tarantula.

But there are a number of things I’ll never do.

Bungee jumping, sky-diving, and free-form mountain climbing, to name a few. I’m not afraid of heights—in fact my husband used to get me to hang the Christmas lights on the highest peak of our roof—but I am afraid of falling. Or to be more precise, hitting the ground. Hard.

Yes, I know that the bungee cord is supposed to stop you from splatting and the parachute deploys properly 99% of the time. But my over-active imagination—so very useful when writing—will not allow me to forget the one percent chance of something horrible happening.

You’d think such a vivid imagination would prevent me from getting on a plane, or even into a car. But no. If I feel someone has a chance of controlling or avoiding the splat, I’m okay with it. It’s that out-of-control, no-chance-of-landing-safely part that worries me. And I just can’t see me putting myself in harm’s way for fun.

I watch plenty of people bungee jump, sky dive, and mountain climb on TV, and as I watch, I gasp with absolute amazement. I admire people who can throw caution to the wind and go for broke in the spirit of adventure. But you’ll never find me on an extreme vacation. Nope. Not going to happen.

Has anyone done an extreme sport? Care to share your experience?

Currently working on: Unpacking from RomCon
Mood: Sleepy

This week’s topic is “The vacation untaken” (sort of a spin on Robert Frost’s ”The Road Not Taken,” perhaps, if you’re feeling poetical) but I thought I’d mention the trip I DID just take — the first annual RomCon romance readers convention.

I headed out to Denver Colorado early Friday morning. The sun is not up at 4:15, in case you were curious.  The picture below — taken from the car on the way to the airport — is a good visual representation of my oracular and mental functioning at 4:15 a.m.:

The pale fuzzy squiggle at the top is the moon.  Poor moon.

The convenient part of arriving at the airport so early is that I had time to visit the three Powell’s Books in the various concourses.  And lo and behold…

Liam’s fine (and signed!) butt could become airborne at any moment.  Much thanks to the Powell’s employees who were waaay more awake than me and helped me find my copies.

I took a nap on the plane and that was the last sleep for the weekend. I roomed with the always wickedly delightful Delilah Marvelle, who brought her infamous penis candy to give away by the handsful. (Well, not handsful, really; they were very tiny penises.)

The party started right away with workshop and events and author/reader chats. It was a convivial group. As one reader told me, she had come to the convention by herself but she felt completely comfortable finding an empty seat at dinner, knowing that everyone there was a fellow romance reader. If ever the conversation lagged (and trust me, it did not) one simple question could restart the talk for hours: “What do you read?”

My favorite events included:

Betwixt & Between Paranormal Tea: Paranormal romance authors and readers gathered for cookies and chatting.

Monster Charades: Despite being held at 10 a.m. (that’s almost as early as 4:14 a.m.!) on Saturday, the guessing-game of paranormal authors, titles, series, characters and creatures was huge fun.  Thanks (and I mean that sarcastically) to author Carolyn Crane for coming up with some baffling stumpers that had us laughing through the guessing.

Build-a-Hero Workshop: The dark fae we created — Shikar of the magic hands — somehow lost out to the historical hero Sir Rochester, but we love him still.  I was supposed to bring home the whiteboard where we’d written his description (including his… um, manly measurements) but I lost it at the Denver airport on the way home!  Someone there is going to be very confused.  Luckily, we took good notes:

And a close-up of the final version, written in the preternaturally tidy script of Elizabeth:

Thanks to Sabrina for forwarding me the pictures!  And thanks to author Meagan Hatfield, especially for coming up with our team name: Team Awesome!  We were, weren’t we?

I think the brightest highlight for me was the chance to sit with Nalini Singh, Christine Feehan and C.L. Wilson on a paranormal author panel.  Can you imagine?  Sitting next to those stars?  In comparison, I looked a little like that fuzzy moon I posted earlier!  But I felt very much at ease because they are among the nicest people in the world (or most other worlds you can imagine).  The fact they write the stories that rock MY world is the frosting-and-sprinkles on the cupcake of my glee!

(If you’re on Twitter and want a blow-by-blow account, you can scroll back through #romcon for commentary.)

Last and best, I had the chance to meet readers, a few of whom had even read my stories :)  What a trip!  I was on Cloud 9.  Actually, I was above Cloud 9 and just a little to the north of Mt. Hood (thanks to Southwest Airlines and their two free bags policy which allowed me to bring 100 lbs. of giveaways and snacks):

The event is in the planning stages for next year in Denver. I’ll post word here as soon as I hear what’s up. I’d love to meet some Silk And Shadows readers at RomCon 2011!

Meanwhile, I brought home a few books.  Honestly, just a few.  But the highlight… I have a signed copy of Nalini Singh’s ANGEL’S BLOOD!   It’s the first book in her Guild Hunter series and you do NOT want to be left behind on this one.  Just leave a comment on any post this week and you’ll be entered for a chance to win.  I’ll warn you now, you’ll want to go get your copy of the second book, ARCHANGEL’S KISS, before you start reading.  Yes, it is that good.

What do you think?  Would you be interested in attending a romance readers’ convention?  Which author would you most want to meet?

Currently working on: Staying on top of the raspberry and snow pea harvest
Mood: Wondering how many dishes include both raspberries AND snow peas…

So we’re halfway through the year.  (Well, halfway plus a little bit, but I’m always behind.)  This is usually when I pull out my New Year’s Resolutions, laugh hysterically, and reassess.  What are my NEW New Half Year’s Resolutions?

When I look at what I have to get done before the end of the year, the hysteria becomes more pronounced and other living beings in my household find heavy objects to find under.  But the trick is always first things first.  So in honor of this week’s blog topic of “My next project,” I bring you my first task: Announcing the winner of last week’s Ava Gray SKIN GAME giveaway.  Random.org picked:

Spav, who is distracted by Twitter. Aren’t we all?  Congrats, Spav, and thanks to all who commented.

Now, onto the next task…

I’ll be attending RomCon, a new convention for romance readers and writers, in a couple weeks (which, like the end of the year, is coming faster than I anticipate, I know).  I’m very much looking forward to stalking some of my favorite authors, hanging with friends, chatting with readers, and signing books.  If you live in Denver or have friends, family or Facebook acquaintances who live in Denver or anywhere in the Rockies for that matter, come join us!  The giant book fair is open to the public. Details:

RomCon
Crowne Plaza Denver Airport
15500 East 40th Avenue, Denver, CO
Saturday, July 10, Noon Book Fair
Meet Jo Beverley, Christine Feehan, Julia Quinn, Lori Foster, Meljean Brook, Nalini Singh, Carly Phillips, Susan Mallery, Melissa Mayhue, Catherine Anderson, Jodi Thomas and dozens of other fabulous authors [Note from Jessa: You'll see I am not a listed author at this point in my life, but at least I am fabulous] our multi-author booksigning sponsored by Borders. Bring up to 3 books from your own library for your favorite author to sign!

But before I go, I have to finish writing a short story from the world of the Marked Souls.  It’s the possession story of Corvus Valerius.  I’m going to give away limited edition prints of the story at RomCon before I post it to my website.  If you want a copy (when I finally finish it) email your snail mail addy to jessa at jessaslade dot com with the subject line: Corvus.

Writing his story has been harder than I thought it would be.  Okay, all writing is harder for me than I think it will be.  But Corvus’s tale is especially hard because… Well, as soon as I started writing him, he became my hero. 

There’s a saying among writers: Every villain is the hero of his own story.  That’s been true of Corvus through the first two books of the Marked Souls and it’s even more true when we see how he gave in to temptation — and his demon.  What do you think, does evil always believe itself in the right, or sometimes does evil just say, hell yeah I’m evil?

I’m also running a contest/asking a favor/assigning you an enviable task at my personal blog.  I need to find a royalty free picture of Corvus for the cover of the short story.  If somebody finds a shot I can use, she’ll get a signed copy of SEDUCED BY SHADOWS or FORGED OF SHADOWS.  You can read the details here. 

See you (hopefully) in Denver!

The hardest part of writing—for me—is the first draft. Editing stuff I’ve already written is so much easier than getting the story down in the first place.

I don’t think that’s surprising. The first draft of any story requires a huge investment in creative brain power. It not only draws on my smarts (from a plotting perspective), it draws on my emotions. In order to capture the story properly, I need to FEEL it.

When all goes right, I end the day on a satisfied but weary note. When it wrong, I tend to avoid the computer or avoid the manuscript by hanging out on social network sites and playing computer games. Not productive. And usually guilt-inducing. So, I do several things to keep myself moving forward:

1. Plan my day to include several breaks. It’s hard work to be ‘on’ for hours at a time. So, I schedule downtime. But I use an alarm clock to remind myself when it’s time to get back to work. If I don’t, I find myself goofing off when I should be writing. Ooops.

2. Turn off the internet. I actually have an old computer unplugged from the internet, and when I’m in the throes of draft one, I work there. There’s no wireless connectivity in the machine, so it’s truly cut off from the rest of the world. Conveniently, that computer also has no games on it except a very basic solitaire game.

3. Reward myself. I set daily goals, and when I make those goals, I give myself a little treat. It can be anything from a cup of Starbucks to watching a DVD. And, of course, the best reward is the finished manuscript. The feeling you get when you type THE END is incredible.

4. Keep a visual progress bar posted near my monitor. This works amazingly well for me. Watching the green bar edge closer and closer to the finish line stirs my competitive instincts and provides more satisfaction than cold, sterile page numbers. It also helps me with pacing, because I know where I am in the story at all times.

My competitive instincts were honed as a speed swimmer in my youth. I wasn’t Michael Phelps, but I competed in several regional and national events. If there’s even a whiff of competition in the game, I’m keen and eager. I can’t help but compare my progress bar on my current manuscript to the progress I made on previous books. I hate to lose…even to myself.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to work this same kind of magic on housework…laundry is my nemesis. I use it as inspiration for the evil monsters in my books: It sucks my energy every time I look at it, it doubles in size whenever my back is turned, and it instantly springs back to life every time I think I’ve slain it.

What’s your least favorite household chore?

Currently working on: Book 3 revisions, due tomorrow! Aye!
Mood: Fuh-wreaking out

Summer is a terrible time in the Pacific Northwest.  Terrible for writing, that is. 

June through September, the Pacific Northwest offers some of the most spectacularly perfect weather on the planet (all the more marvelous when compared to the weather October through May) with outdoor adventures that range from ocean beach tidepooling to mountain biking to high desert rock hounding.  In other words, it can be hard—very hard—to sit inside, staring at a computer, getting words on the page.

As if jaunts to the coast or forests weren’t distracting enough, I’m also a gardener. Gardens can be as all-consuming as a 100,000-word work in progress. In fact, I learned a few writing tips from my garden that help me make the most of summer’s joys.

Time your fallow season

Like gardens, stories—and writers—often benefit from down-time.  In a small but hard-working garden like mine, that period of rest and recuperation is winter, when nothing else is going on anyway.  For my writing, I try to time my fallow moments—those times when I’m letting a story sit between revision, when I’m brainstorming a new story (which I equate to plowing under rich compost), or when I’m critiquing my writing partners—when I know I’m going to be distracted by things like sunshine, watermelon (it’s impossible to eat watermelon around a computer), and camping trips.

Work in concentrated bursts

Despite its small size, my garden has an amazing capacity to grow weeds.  The thought of tackling the whole space at once is daunting (and gets me itching for a backhoe and a load of quick-set concrete) so I pick one area and whack at it for a set amount of time, then relax.  For example, on a hot day, I weed the shaded north-side beds and reward myself with a popsicle in the sun.  Same with my writing.  I set myself goals that play to my strengths—and weaknesses.  Since I like to laze around on summer mornings, I don’t even pretend I’m going to write.  But in the hot afternoon when my black dog is begging to get inside out of the sun, I go up to my office with her and get my words in.

Experiment, have fun and get dirty

In the more sober and contemplative months of winter, snuggled in at my desk, I find it easier to concentrate, kind of like my winter garden pared down to evergreens and stark branches.  But all work and no play…  Summer in the garden, with its bright colors and sweet fruits, is a great time to try those fabulous tropical annuals, to yanks things out and move things around, to go a little wild.  Like a solar charger, I read more in the summer, get excited about new stories and take that energy with me back to my writing.

And never worry about excessive summer distractions.  Trust me, the rains will return.

Note from Jessa: I got to dance with Marie-Claude Bourque at RT in Columbus this year, so I can attest to her fitness!  She’s willing to give away a copy of ANCIENT WHISPERS to one lucky commenter, so you can experience her wonderfully evocative writing yourself!

When it comes to writing fast, face it, unless we are specially gifted, it all comes down to motivation and how much time we spend putting words on the page.

I spend 15 years as an AFAA certified fitness instructor, the last 5 of those as a coordinator and trainer of instructors. I learned a thing or two about motivation, because really, taking the steps to stay fit and healthy requires a lot of motivation.

So here is what I taught my fitness clients and class participants and how you can adapt it to find the motivation to be more prolific in writing (and, as bonus, learn some fitness tips).

Keep your goals intrinsic:

Fitness: This means that your goals should be things that you can do something about as opposed to goals that involve someone else or external factors. I can have a goal of losing 10 pounds by next month or looking like Heidi Klum by my birthday but I’m fighting a lot of things here, my metabolism and my genetics. It is impossible with that goal to reach success. If I say I’ll exercise 4 times this week, or take my latte nonfat for now on, the goal is completely under my control. If I do fail, it’s my fault.

Writing: Similarly if my goal is to sell my first book within the year, hit the NYT list in 5 years or become as famous as Nora Roberts, I am not setting myself up for success.  However, I can be quite successful if I chose to submit my manuscript to ten agents this month, or my proposal to my editor by next week or finish my 2 completed novels by the end of the year. It’s all under my control.

Write it down:

Fitness: Most successful fitness professional write down their progress. In an exercise or a food log, in a notebook, calendar or on a smart phone, it doesn’t matter but it seems that people who track down what they are doing tend to think more about what they are about to eat and are motivated to see their progress on paper. I lost 40 pounds of baby weight twice by writing down everything I ate. It works.

Writing: We can do this in writing to. Track your daily word count or pages written, whether on a calendar that you see every day or in a special notebook, by coloring blocks on a chart, using a word count meter online or posting your accomplishments to your social networks, whatever works for you. Seeing the number add up every day is very motivating.

Make it social:

Fitness: I always tell my participant to make dates with friends at the gym. If you know your best friend is there, you can’t change your mind at the last minute. She might be upset. Planning for coffee afterwards with a bunch of pals makes you more likely to go because it’s fun. Having a running buddy who picks you up at your house also gives you no choice but go ahead with your exercise.

Writing: Writing is more solitary but you can make it social. Why is Twitter so popular with writers? You can meet a writer friend at the coffee shop to write, you can have a writing buddy that you email in the morning then at the end of the day to encourage each other or you can belong to goal oriented group like Amy Atwell’s Goal in a Month groups. It’s a lot more fun when you are not alone.

Get your stuff ready ahead of time:

Fitness: I like to keep my gear close by and accessible. If I am not spending 15 min. looking for my gym socks, I am much more likely to stick with my daily walks. I like to have my clothes ready if I know I’ll exercise in the morning and I would always pack my gym bag in my trunk in the morning when I used to work outside to head straight to the gym before going back home. In college, I would pack my locker with a fresh supply of all my gear for the week including swimsuit and rackets, so I could just go there and decide what kind of exercise I would do on the spot.

Writing: I write first thing in the morning and I am not blessed with an office. I found that when I put my notebook, pen, and laptop all ready for me to write, I am much more likely to do it. If you keep your material organized and easily accessible in an obvious reminder that you need to write now, you are more likely to do it.

If all fails, buy something.

Fitness: I used to tell people to go buy some nice exercise wear when they felt their motivation slipping. Yes exercise it hard, but we might as well look pretty while doing it. Trust me, it works. Plus if you’ve invested some money, you’re imposing a little guilt on yourself to actually use the stuff.

Writing: I cured my writer’s block last summer by downloading a song each time I would finish a scene. I figured the most it would cost me would be $75 for a whole book. Pretty cheap! It worked for me. Soon I was writing one-two scenes a day and even started to forget to buy songs because I was having so much fun writing. Find a little treat that you can get once you’re done, it might help!

Just do it

Fitness: In the end, there are no tricks. That’s why Nike got its trademark bang on. You just have to get there and do it. Don’t think. Learn to shut that part of your brain that moans and complains that you are tired and will start tomorrow. Get out there and exercise. Do it first thing in the morning (early exercisers are more successful at keeping up with it) or head to the gym straight after work. Don’t get comfortable, do it. Do it for 5 minutes, hey you might actually stick with it for 30 min. but if not, at least you got into the habit of doing it. It does get easier.

Writing: BIC: Butt in Chair. Is there any other way? Again, just do it. Don’t think about it. Sit and stare at the blank page. Even if all you do is sit there for your allotted time and think about your book, you are being productive. Find times to do it when you are so tired there is nothing more you’d like to do than sit down and daydream (I like early morning and right after my run).

So now, make a date with yourself and write!  (or exercise or both!)

—————————————

Marie-Claude Bourque is the American Title V winner and author of ANCIENT WHISPERS, a sensual gothic paranormal romance filled with sorcerers and Celtic priestesses in search for eternal love in modern time. She worked as a climate research scientist, a scientific translator and a fitness expert until she turned to fiction writing. She draws her inspiration from the French legends of her childhood and a fascination for dark fantasy.

ANCIENT WHISPERS, a Dorchester -Love Spell release is available now wherever books are sold. Find more at www.mcbourque.com and don’t forget to enter the contest for her month-long virtual release party at www.mcbourque.com/launchparty

Currently working on: Argh, look behind you!.. What? Oh sorry, never mind.  My mistake… What was the question again?
Mood: Focused as a laser beam

No, I’m kidding, I have been working.  Hard.  I’ve been composing guest blog posts in preparation for my blog tour to support the release of FORGED OF SHADOWS next month.  (Which will be here before I know it.  That’s what’s behind us–the relentlessly creeping Time Monster!)  One of the interview questions I had to answer was: What do you do when you’re not writing?

I thought about it for awhile.  And couldn’t come up with anything. 

If I’m not writing, I SHOULD be writing.  After all, I have the life many writers long for–a published book and another on the way.  To not write seems disrespectful.  Guilt makes not writing not fun.

So to circumvent the Guilt Monster (second cousin to the Time Monster) I often try to find a way to make my non-writing activities support my writing activites.  Dog walks are brainstorming sessions.  Reading is research.  Twitter (http://twitter.com/jessaslade) is networking.  Buckets o’ cookie dough are much-needed energy.  Naps are…well, cookie dough only takes you so far, doesn’t it?

Even my other creative pursuits have taken a back seat to writing.  The little sketching I’ve done in the last few years has been of the horde-tenebrae monsters in my books or settings when I can’t quite picture the staging.  I haven’t picked up a paintbrush at all.  Only my beading has resisted the all-encompassing suck of The Book, mostly because I’ve been making Possession in Pearl earrings–from demented, weirdly shaped pearl sticks–to use as blog tour giveaways.

I’m always glad when I blow off my guilt and sneak in an utterly non-writing project because it was a personal beading breakthrough that I think really opened some doors in my mind when it came to my writing.

See, I’m a perfectionist.  Nasty habit, that.  Striving for excellence is a worthy goal, but perfectionism will drive you mad.  For a long time, I would string beads to make a necklace…and then unstring them because they weren’t quite right.  I was constantly on the lookout for the “perfect” bead to complete a given project.  I amassed more and more beads, but it was impossible to be sure I had the “perfect” bead because–as many beads as I had–I didn’t have them all.  What if the “perfect” bead was still out there?  Time to come unstrung again.

Then one day…  I’d like to say I stopped being stupid.  But really what happened was a poverty-induced Christmas panic.  I had decided to use up some of the ridiculous amount of beads making jewelry for my female relatives.  And now I had a deadline.

Suddenly, “perfect” was less pressing than “wrapped, packed and shipped.”  I learned to come to peace with the pieces I had.  And they were perfectly lovely.  At least according to my mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt, who I’m sure were utterly objective.

Now when I’m writing, when I feel the urge to look for the perfect word, to wait until I have perfectly visualized every element of the story, to rail at myself for being less than perfect, I think of my beads.  To be lovely, to come to life, they have to be strung and hung around someone’s neck or dangling from someone’s ears.  And I’m the only one who can make that happen. 

I think most people have beads rolling around the drawers of their life that should be out for the world to admire.  Maybe not perfect, but shiny or sparkly or intriguing or whatever is good enough.  How do you support the creativity in your life?

Leave a comment and you’ll be entered for a chance to win a pair of Possession in Pearl earrings similar to the ones pictured above.  I’m making another pair as soon as I finish this post.  Hey, I can’t write ALL the time.