. . . to the men and the women who stand in defense of our country. As one of my friends put it, "land of the free because of the brave."
I'm on a tear with Living Canvas, which is now tentatively retitled Elusive Shadows. Couldn't shake that Night Gallery influence, and actually found a better application for it. What can I say? I used to scare my babysitters when I was little, watching Creature Features and One Step Beyond, and Sixth Sense. Heck, I even scared myself one night while I was babysitting watching some of those old scary shows.
The weather has been cooperating with my burst of creativity - first by presenting a full day of rain and thunderstorms (don't worry, laptops don't always have to be plugged in) and today by stifling heat and humidity. I still managed to go outside to soak up some of the sun, but took pen and paper with me to compose a new chapter. Tomorrow, more gloom and doom in the form of rain promises another productive day at the keyboard. My creative ship is sailing along with a favorable tailwind!
After wandering around in author limbo for a while (largely due to the imposition of having to work for a living), it's hard to get motivated to move ahead with the writing. Everyday life can be exhausting. I get bogged down with responsibilities, coupled with the business end of being an author and the competition that I'm up against, but then my time frees up, something triggers and ZOOM! I'm off again - I can't help myself. It is an innate part of me, as it is with the community of authors. We threaten to quit. We're going to give up because it's not worth the effort. Then the lightbulb flickers on in our brains and we can't help ourselves. There is a story that needs to be told. This is who we are.
To paraphrase, there was a musician who said something to the effect of "If you have to ask yourself if you're a musician (insert "author" here), find something else to do. For those of us that are called to it, there is no doubt."
And so it goes. My muse is tapping her foot impatiently as I blog, but she'll have to wait until after dinner now. After all, authors have to eat, too.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Moving ahead so life won't pass me by
I heard someone reference Jim Croce the other day, and the person they were talking to had no idea who Jim Croce was. Kind of like "Who are the Beatles?" (ok, maybe not quite). Anyway, it was only natural that this lyric popped into my head.
The pace of life has been exhausting, even with the end to insanity at the day job. There is still work to do, events to prepare for (congratulations to my daughter who is now officially a college graduate, and on with the wedding planning). As such, I am (again) behind in posting. AND let's not forget those Chicago Bulls! Sorry, but I AM setting aside some of my free time to watch them. They are "for real" this year and I hope they can make it to the end.
With all of these distractions in my life, my muse is taking a well-deserved break, although tapping me on the shoulder frequently to remind me that, like my children, they are never far from my thoughts. The juggling act continues. Priorities are reset. I see my writing buddies moving ahead and making progress/having success and I feel like I'm lagging behind, but my Wonder Woman cape is at the cleaners along with the super powers it contains. On the plus side, I have a couple of (in my opinion) strong stories on the shelf to keep me pushing ahead. I have scheduled days with said muse at the beginning of June so I can sit down and review the good work we've done, push it to the next level, and move on to the next project.
I'm still working to get the stories from my shelf onto a bookstore shelf - I'll keep you posted as these progress. However, I am not contemplating any new projects until after the aforementioned wedding. I don't think the Wonder Woman cape will be done before then (although one never knows . . . )
Expect to see Living Canvas and/or Epitaph sometime this summer! Thanks for sticking with me and I'll keep you posted!
The pace of life has been exhausting, even with the end to insanity at the day job. There is still work to do, events to prepare for (congratulations to my daughter who is now officially a college graduate, and on with the wedding planning). As such, I am (again) behind in posting. AND let's not forget those Chicago Bulls! Sorry, but I AM setting aside some of my free time to watch them. They are "for real" this year and I hope they can make it to the end.
With all of these distractions in my life, my muse is taking a well-deserved break, although tapping me on the shoulder frequently to remind me that, like my children, they are never far from my thoughts. The juggling act continues. Priorities are reset. I see my writing buddies moving ahead and making progress/having success and I feel like I'm lagging behind, but my Wonder Woman cape is at the cleaners along with the super powers it contains. On the plus side, I have a couple of (in my opinion) strong stories on the shelf to keep me pushing ahead. I have scheduled days with said muse at the beginning of June so I can sit down and review the good work we've done, push it to the next level, and move on to the next project.
I'm still working to get the stories from my shelf onto a bookstore shelf - I'll keep you posted as these progress. However, I am not contemplating any new projects until after the aforementioned wedding. I don't think the Wonder Woman cape will be done before then (although one never knows . . . )
Expect to see Living Canvas and/or Epitaph sometime this summer! Thanks for sticking with me and I'll keep you posted!
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