A Good Harvest

As a writer of historical romances, I sometimes daydream about being in a cabin in the mountains as the trees change their leaves to brilliant shades. It’s October, and the harvest must begin soon if we aren’t to lose crops and livestock to the coming winter. Let’s say that this cabin is part of a farm that grazes sheep on the mountain meadows and plants potatoes and corn in small plots near the cabin and behind the barn.

Writers Need a Day Off

Well, maybe not a whole day off. A half a day off is just as good, some times. I mean if you spend the whole week writing about two people who need to fall in love and they finally get there, you need to step back, grab your partner, and see if all of the things you wrote actually work. Then you need the rest of the day to refuel, rest, and plot more things.

Characters I Wish I’d Created

Not long ago, I finished the second Bobiverse book. The neat thing about Bob is that at the beginning of his story, he was an ordinary guy, a little geeky, and sadly a traffic accident statistic. Then magic happens with uploading “corpsicles” into computer hardware and a chance to live forever, unless someone kills him. Okay, kills him again.

Magic Wishes

During a recent online writers meeting, one writer shared that she wrote a sentence saying the heroine of her story had never invoked magic. And before the writer knew it, she had added the word, yet. Obviously, there will be magic in her story now, whether she intended to have it or not. Well, why no? You might be asking yourself that. Because Magic has to have rules and boundaries. It’s no fun if all the conflict can be solved by a wave of a magic device.

Procrastination Smashed!

The title may be a bit of an exaggeration. I rather tapped procrastination politely on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, I need to get to this project right now.” So I fired up Scrivener and copied out the first chapter and made changes. By gosh, I felt good getting back into my story planet. I got through the changes and stepped back. I now see another change that will help the book. But I do see a light at the end of this tunnel.

Directed By

If you read my Tweet What You Read blogs, you know I have been watching a lot of movies lately. It’s not surprising that I began to imagine my Work in Progress as it would be under different directors. Along with wondering who they would cast as the leading, this can keep me busy for days. NOTE: I sincerely apologize to anyone offended by my imagined films below. Please do let me know what offends you in the comments, so that I can learn from my mistakes.

Water Angels

Swimming is the most amazing exercise ever invented. The appeal for writers is the ability to imagine all the stuff that could be going on. You could be merfolk, or a pirate who crossed the line with the captain, or a sabotage agent swimming quietly through the bay to plant explosives on the ships of the enemy. Or rescuing prisoners by leading them through the cold arctic waters.

Characters on Vacation

In my weekly health class, the nutritionist asked how many of us had taken a real vacation in the last 5 years. In a group of 12, only two or three hands went up. She went on to tell us about the importance of time in nature, something I believe in very strongly. The last question was, where would you go if you could vacation anywhere in the world?

A Writer’s Prayer

The first week of July has passed. I have written some on my work in progress. I am under-motivated due to the heat and the sick dog and the general stuff I need to do but never see to get to. Argh. So I have begun some affirmations and meditations which some people call prayer. Whatever works, I hope you will find something of worth in this spirit-lifting recital.

Aching to Write

Writing is my drug. I write a lot of non-fiction just to have something going on. I rarely run out of ideas for blogs, and I love posting things on Facebook. That said, there are days when I am aching to write on my Work In Progress (WIP) and can’t because I need a blog. I guess I have two levels of my drug. One is the write anything but keep writing drive, and the other is the write the characters and get them into trouble drive.