After a fairly lengthy absence, I'm finally on the road to recovery.
No, I haven't had the flu or been diagnosed with some dread disease. It wasn't really me who was MIA. I could deal with little ole' me being down and out. This was much, much worse. This was every writer's worst nightmare. Yeah, that's right - my Muse bolted.
Too much stress at work, too much stress at home and WAY too much of a very bad reality everywhere sent Muse on the lam. Reality kidnapped my Muse. As days stretched into weeks and the long Labor Day weekend passed without my fingers touching a keyboard, I started fearing the worst. Maybe Muse wasn't just on vacation. Maybe she'd taken up residence elsewhere. She might even be ... dead.
It took several things to bring her back, and that's what this blog post is about. There's more than one way to lure your muse to return.
One thing that helped a lot was an exciting development in my life. After I commenced writing pretty seriously, I started reading a lot of blogs. My absolute favorite writers' blog was by a group of romance authors. It was called Romancing The Blog. I checked it at lunch time every single weekday without fail. The blog covered topics as varied as the group of writers involved. One day's might cover plotting, dialogue or the craft of writing generally. Another might discuss a hot button issue in the romance industry. It might cover how relatives feel about having a romance writer in the family, a holiday season, or struggling with blogging verses writing. It was an amazing and diverse blog and it gave me, the beginning writer, a real window into the authors' world. I used to read Romancing the Blog and imagine that one day I'd be asked to contribute to a blog like that and that brand new writers might see my blog entries as englightening or inspirational.
So this past week, on the Tuesday after the long Labor Day holiday passed without my having written a thing, I trudged back to work. I didn't mind going back to work this time because the stress at home meant it wasn't much of a break. Going back to work just traded one set of stress for another. When I got a break during the day, I checked my home email. And there it was ....... an invitation from romance author Marianne Stephens to join a brand new, about to be launched blog of romance writers named Mary Anne or some form or fashion thereof.
The new blog will be called All Day, All Night ... Romance Blogs. It even refers to little ole' me as a romance diva. But - how could I inspire other writers to write in these dark and troubled days if I couldn't do it myself? Besides, by Wednesday or so, I started getting a knock in the noggin. It was Muse, saying she liked being called a diva and maybe she'd come back.
Muse started me thinking about a book I'd read recently. It showed me how different taste is and (once again) reminded me that the popular taste isn't always my taste. Some time ago, as a free download from the Sony store, I'd gotten a paranormal romance anthology called Half Past Dead. I'd never read a zombie romance but the new articles all over the place are calling zombies The New Vampires. (I haven't read a vampire romance either but we'll just let that pass for now, okay?) I like some light paranormal stuff like Jayne Anne Krentz's Arcane series. Heck, I've written some light paranormal stuff (A Faerie Fated Forever, A Sixth Sense of Forever). So why not give zombie romance a try? I could be part of the new trend.
Reading the zombie romance reminded me WHY I've never been good at following a herd. I read the first of the two-part anthology - a story called The Undying Heart by Zoe Archer. It showed me that zombie romance ain't my thing. Don't get me wrong - I'm not throwing off on Ms. Archer. She must be one heck of a fine author because despite my discovery that I don't find zombies to be good romantic fodder, I finished the story. And I'm not one of those who'll finish something just because I've started it. If a story loses me, I'll lose the story. But I finished Ms. Archer's piece, which is pretty darned astonishing since I couldn't read a word of the thing without wondering how zombies get hard ons. (Think about it.)
There are others like me who look for something a little different, who'd rather wander off on their own path than follow the herd. This blog gives me one way to reach out to those folks who can't feel all warm and fuzzy about romancing the undead. All Day, All Night will give me another, bigger, broader forum for that. It'll also hopefully attract readers to this blog where they can be educated and enlightened about many things in the romance and ebook world AND still learn about the current happenings on Grey's Anatomy from time to time. (Next week look for a season preview from the vantage point of my twisted and warped perspective)
Getting the new blog invite was exciting. And it started me thinking about it providing a forum for folks who don't follow the crowd, but it didn't quite get my fingers back to the keyboard. It brought Muse back, but she and I were still feeling a little stressed and despondent. We still felt a little disconnected and a lot unimportant (another product of recent events in my world). I felt like even if I still have something to say, who'd listen to me?
You know what it took to finally get my fingers back to the keyboard? Laughter. Cliches are sometimes cliches because they're so frog-kicking true. Trust me on this - laughter really is good medicine and laughter shared with your spouse or lover - that's the best medicine in the world.
Friday night I was flipping through the TV - over 600 channels and nothing on. Then I turned to Starz On Demand and there it was. A movie called Old Dogs starring Robin Williams and John Travolta. It's about two "old dogs" still chasing the golden ticket through the ad agency they own in New York City. One day a woman from Robin's past shows up with 7 year-old twins. She tells Robin that they're his and before you can say presto, chango, he's stuck taking care of them for 2 weeks. The experience changes the old dogs' view of the world, teaches them what matters, and shows Robin that no matter how unimportant he may be to everyone else, he'll always be one of the most important people in the world to his kids.
The message resonated with me on a bunch of levels for a bunch of reasons. And the way it was delivered kicked me in the ass and nudged me toward my keyboard. It's an over-the-top farce with big, broad humor that had me and Mr. Quack doubled over with laughter. Together.
I needed that experience in today's reality much more than I ever would've needed it in the olden, golden days of yore. It reminded me that out there somewhere are readers who need that over-the-top, bigger than life experience in a romance novel. And they need it more in today's reality than they ever did in yesterday's.
It took the zombies, the comedic movie romp, and the blog invite to get me back to the keyboard. But here I am again, right in the middle of writing The Duke of Eden. I'm doing a scene where the emotions are played so big and so broad that it'll keep readers who like the view from over-the-top glued to their books or ebooks, anxious to flip the next page.
I've remembered that this old duck can still quack. And soon, I'll be quacking in a new pond once a month. So keep an eye out for the launch of All Day, All Night ... Romance Blogs. It should launch around October 1st and I'm currently scheduled to blog on the 18th of each month (my birthday is on 8.18 so it'll be easy for me to remember).
Romancing The Blog folded up and shut down on December 31st. I've really missed my old friend and though the site said it was looking to re-launch in mid-year, it hasn't yet. I hope to see it back but for now, I'd urge all the blog's former fans to check out ADAN around October 1st. It's a new day, a new dawn and a new start. So mark the date on your calendars! There will be something for everyone and I hope lots of folks will take part of their lunch hour every day to read up on what's new and happening with a NEW group of romance writers that's every bit as varied as the folks who'll read the blog.
Now back to The Duke of Eden. The hero's desperately seeking the heroine who's been toted off by another man who is.....was......might still be one of the hero's best friends. Remember, this one's being published in serial form on Amazon. Check out the first part, Chapters 1-4 that's available for only 99 cents and look out for part two that should be posted very soon.
Yep, this old duck is quacking along again, headed over-the-top and paddling towards another happy ending.