FULL EXPOSURE

Really, if I could only come up these kind of titles for my books... Maybe I'm trying too hard.

Since this is technically supposed to be a writing journal of sorts, I really ought to get back to talking about the work in process, except right now, it's all scrambled and jumbled up and gives me a headache just thinking about it. I had to hastily pull together a blog for the wenches for tomorrow (come and see if you can win Queen Wench for a Day!) because I'll be leaving for KY for Easter and won't have access to a computer connection. On the drive over, I hope to work on the edit for MYSTIC WARRIOR, which is the third book of the Mystic Isle series. My editor and I went round and round about the opening for this one, so my pacing was thrown off. I'm having a hard time getting everything back in line.

I'm supposed to be working out a blog ad campaign but I have so many choices and opportunities that I've stuck my head in the sand. I may need to hire someone so I can see what I'm doing again.

Ah, and the ongoing proposal process!!!! Exciting and insanity-making at the same time. Since mass market contemporary romance is struggling (just look at your RT reviews and you can see how the market has slumped!), I'm trying to take my contemps up another level with an eye on trade paperback. (and don't yell at me about the prices-- Apparently readers who want contemporaries would rather pay money for big books instead of mass markets. I'd rather read the small ones, too.) So I'm taking a couple of my romance proposals and I'm exploring new avenues with them. I've written two "women's fiction" proposals. I have a light "psychic" romance aimed at mass market (sorry, can't help myself!--and thank all of you who think I'm witty because this one needs all the wit I can get). And once I summon the nerve to put pen to paper, I have developed a ten-page story line for a mainstream that's been itching at the back of my mind for months.

And I still have to find time to attend the Novelists Inc conference next week. I wish my Muse worked nights!

Internal Editor

Nina has been patiently waiting for me to explain how I turn off my "internal editor." It's nice that she thinks my ADD afflicted mind even has one! Which probably gives you some clue as to how I whack that little darling.

My internal editor is an eternal nag who drives my Muse into sulking if I let her out of the closet often. Fortunately for me, my Muse is ADHD, and the internal editor is a lazy slouch. If I hit the WIP first thing in the morning when the editor is sleeping, I can usually slip in a dozen pages before Ed wakes up and snorts at the illegible, unreadable trash the Muse has churned out. Usually by noon, Ed has full control and no more magical pages appear. If I absolutely must finish a chapter that day, I can sometimes drive Ed back into the closet by playing instrumentals or synchronized brain music. Or by sitting in a rocking chair, writing by hand (apparently puts Ed back to sleep). But once Ed is awake, the process is quite laborious, and I usually give up in an hour or two.

So, really, it's about finding your biorhythms, finding that time when you can just let go and slap words on the page until a scene forms. For some of us, creativity is stimulated by sound or motion. Remember all those times ideas popped into your head as you were driving down the road? That's the motion motivator kicking in. Writing by hand stimulates it for me since I'm not fond of driving through snowstorms or driving rain when my Muse stalls out.

But really, old Ed is a friend of mine. Because Ed's right, the Muse is a lousy writer who needs her hands smacked frequently.