LIFE IS ALL ABOUT WAITING

    It's been a while since I blogged. I thought the next time I typed up a post I would have exciting news to share, but that hasn't happened yet. Instead I'm trying to allow myself to learn a valuable lesson...Life is all about waiting.

   We have to wait to grow up. We have to wait to find the perfect job, to find the perfect mate. (I am still waiting on both.) You'd think with all the waiting that we have to do, that something would come quickly for us. When I first started writing I naively thought that becoming a successful writer might fit that bill. Boy was I wrong. Everything requires a wait.

   I had to wait until I found the first publisher willing to publish my debut novel. I had to wait for said novel to then be edited and given a release date before it made its way into the world. I had to wait a long time until I found my agent. You see where I'm going with this?

   So now, I find myself waiting again. Waiting for my hard working agent to give me the news that every author waits to hear: A publisher wants to buy your novel and give you lots of exposure. Yes, I'm waiting on this news with bated breath, on pins and needles, all those fantastic clichés.

  In the meantime I am trying desperately not to drive myself stir crazy. I'm trying hard to keep my focus on writing the next novel in my series and not giving in to all the other characters demanding that I finally give them their own story.

    But for now, all I can do is write. After all I'm still going to have to wait so I might as well make the most of it.



WRITING IS THERAPY

WRITING IS THERAPY

 

   It's been a while since I've written a new post, but life has a habit of getting in the way. After a few extremely tense weeks filled with running around for job interviews, a car accident, and preparing to move again I hope things are getting ready to settle down for a while. Meanwhile in the midst of all this craziness I've continued writing and I've discovered something all too terrible, while at the same time wonderful...writing is therapy.

   Yes I know you may think it's cliché or a bit weird but it's true. I'm currently working on my fourth novel and it has started to dawn on me that there are some recurring things that I'm starting to see. No I'm not talking about that fact I write happily Ever Afters in an effort to cope with a less than stellar love life. I'm talking about something deeper. Something I really didn't realize until I'd finished my third book a few months ago. But yeah. It's there. Staring back at me from past written pages and slowly forming new ones.

   To protect the innocent I won't tell you what the theme is outright, but I will say it's all about relationships and not the romantic type. I've been writing seriously since February 2012 and with each finished book I confront another issue that I've either locked away or didn't realize was bothering me. So to sum it all up, discovering the written word has been therapeutic for me. I'm able to express all my frustrations. All my fears. And all my hope and dreams in the confines of a world I'm in charge of.

    I'm glad that I decided to start writing. It has allowed me to confront some things and hopefully reach the point of being able to let go. So the next time you sit down with your laptop or pull out your trusty journal and write, just think for a moment. What are you really saying with every new sentence? And are you prepared to accept what you uncover?



LIFE

LIFE

 

 

 

   While you know that I'm a novelist, not many know that I am also an amateur poet and lyric writer, so I decided that in addition to my journey through the world as a novelist, why not share some of my poetry as well. So here it goes. This one is called Life.

 

 

Tear me down

Destroy my happiness

How did my life get to be such a mess?

 

Break my spirit

Shatter it all apart

Stop the very beating of my heart

 

Bring the rain

Let it flow

Flood my very soul

 

I can’t fight

What I can’t see

But the strength is in me

 

Somewhere there

Down deep inside

Is a fragile seed gasping for life

 

Will it grow?

Can it breathe?

Will it succeed?

 

That’s to be determined

Right now I don’t know

Just pray for my growth



FEELING PRESSURE

FEELING PRESSURE

 

   Contrary to what many think, nothing about being a writer is easy. Not everyone has it in them to write a complete novel. For those that do, it is a major accomplishment. To have said novel, published is an even bigger accomplishment. But what happens after your novel is out? What happens when you start the process of trying to build a career as an author? I don't know how it is for others but I can share my experience.

   After seeing the successful publication of my debut novel, Goddess of Legend, I became even more motivated to pursue my love of writing. I spent months re-writing my second novel, Siren's Choice, and finally felt ready to submit. After giving my previous publisher first dibs and receiving a rejection I was devastated. And so begins the hard process of finding someone to accept my vision and love it as much as I do.

    Right now, I'm pretty frustrated. I remember the hell I endured trying to find someone to publish my first novel and I'm in no hurry to experience it again. I'm feeling under a lot of pressure. What if it takes forever to find a publisher willing to accept my novel? What if I can't find a publisher willing to take a chance on this novel? What if I have to try and attempt to publish on my own? But worst of all, what if by the time is out, my readers have forgotten about me?

   Let's face it. I'm a new author with 1 novel out. I do not have a built in fan base. I'm still trying to get people interested in me. Time is a luxury I cannot afford. In order to build a fan base, I need to keep myself on the forefront of their minds when they're thinking about buying a new novel. But in this, I'm helpless. I can't make a publisher look at my submissions any quicker and were I to decide to self publish that too would take time. So I'm stuck, waiting and under pressure.

  But the waiting game is not the only source of pressure I've been feeling. I take note of what's popular in the writing world. The genres and things that seem to be selling well. And getting the unexpected rejection for my second novel made me think about it more. I started to think, maybe I should take a stab at something I know will guarantee a publisher picking up my story. Why don't I try a romance with shapeshifters? Why don't I try a ménage? Or what about a male/male novel? My mind has been in turmoil. Do I? Or don't I?

   Let's face it. I don't have an established fan base. I probably could venture out and try something else.  I'm sure I could write a novel with the above mentioned things, but I probably wouldn't enjoy it so why do it? I'm not going to. Despite the pressure I feel I'm going to stick with writing the things that I love. There's no point in me trying to write a book I personally wouldn't want to read. Besides, there are enough writers out there doing those other genres. They don't need to add me to the mix.

   When I decided I wanted to become a serious writer, it was because I wanted to carve my own path in the writing world. I want to write novels that people may not have thought about before. I want to write my way. So no matter how much pressure I may be feeling I have to remain true to myself. After all, if I don't want to read it, who will?



WHAT TO DO WHEN LIFE THREATENS TO KILL YOUR CREATIVE MUSE

          WHAT TO DO WHEN LIFE THREATENS TO KILL YOUR CREATIVE MUSE

 

       Life is full of ups and downs, things expected and things unexpected. Many people find themselves so busy with working, raising a family and keeping house that there is no time for much of anything else. Life can get in the way and prevent you from having any time for yourself.

 

 

     Right now, life is getting in my way. I am currently in the last few weeks of  (what I hope) is my last semester in graduate school. Between a few final class projects and a whole lot of studying in preparation for a final exam, my brain feels as if it is well and truly fried. This semester has been the most busy and stressful of all my semesters in graduate school. I have had to read inordinate amounts of text that would bore pretty much anyone to tears. On top of that with writing assignments every week have taken up much of my free time. Add to the mix, the arduous task of job-hunting every day in preparation for graduation and you have one pretty burned out grad student with little free time.

 

 

      As a result of my myriad of life responsibilities, my creative muse has started to suffer. What do I mean by this? I mean that the voice inside my head that tells me what to write is having a hard time speaking lately. With less and less time, when I do make an attempt to write, I'm finding that I'm starting to struggle. It's getting harder and harder to pick up my story and work on it in irregular spurts. I'm finding that the passion I had when I started the story is diminishing. But most of all, I can find myself fearing that life will always get in the way of my writing.

 

 

    So what do you do when life threatens your creative muse? I've thought about this long and hard as I struggle to build my writing career. Here is what I have come up with

 

1. YOU MUST WRITE EVERYDAY- I've heard this said more than once and it couldn't be more true. While writing may be a talent, it is also a skill. To sharpen your skill, you must practice and that means writing everyday. It doesn't matter how much you write. What matters is that you write something. This will not only keep your skill up to par, but it will keep your enthusiasm for your story going. As you work on your story, day by day, not only do you get closer and closer to completion, but you get affirmation that your muse was not just a fluke. It's there to stay.

 

2. DO THE BARE MINIMUM- What do I mean? My mother is likely to disagree with this one. What I mean is we all have things to do, but that doesn't mean we are required to spend all of our free time doing these tasks. For instance, I do all my laundry on one day of the week, as well as my cleaning. When I make cook I do a lot of crock pot ready meals. That means I don't have to spend valuable time making my meals. Instead I'm free to write as the crockpot does all the work. When it comes to my schooling, I have stopped reading materials that I know will be lectured on in class. It frees up more writing time for me.

 

3. READ, READ, READ- A writer will never be successful unless he or she spends time reading the works of others. Reading will keep your mind stimulated and often provide you with new ideas that you could incorporate in future works. Besides that reading exposes you to different writing styles that can help influence your own particular style.

 

4. KEEP UP WITH OTHER AUTHORS- There is nothing better to motivate you and your muse, than seeing that there are other authors out there trudging along through the mud that is life. Whether it's a NY Times bestselling author or an indie author, seeing someone else talking about their work and the new release they have coming out will motivate you to keep going with your current work and keep your mind open for new ideas that will keep you writing.

 

     Since I've started trying to adhere to these techniques, I'm finding that my muse is slowly starting to come back to me. I find my mind conjuring new twists and turns to add to my current work in progress. My muse has even come up with a new novel idea in the past month. With 32 more potential stories to waiting to be written I have no choice but to find something that works and stick to it. After all, these novels aren't going to write themselves.

 

What kinds of techniques do you use to keep your creative muse alive?