RITA ® Award-Winning Author of Fantasy Romance
//
These signs always amuse me so much. Although, in New Mexico, the lakes are often somewhat hidden from view, and one can come upon them precipitously, from flat mesa to deep canyon filled with water. Still… the warning signs make me smile.
Our topic this week at the SFF Seven is the Novelist’s Refractory Period: How you handle that time between “just finished the novel” and when you “have” to start the next. Come on over for my take.
//
This is a quintessentially Santa Fe photo to me. I took it at Radius Books, where my lovely author friend Megan Mulry works. I stopped by on a hot June afternoon to pick up some books from her, and this dog-in-residence was enjoying the cool stairway. Or being part of an art installation. In Santa Fe, even the dogs have a keen appreciation for aesthetics.
My life is pretty wonderful these days. I live in a beautiful place, I have lovely friends, and I’m actually pulling off this writing full-time gig. David and I are both working hard, but we’re making progress. Every once in a while, I kind of catch my breath and realize that I’m truly making my living as a writer. After twenty-five years of putting the effort toward that goal – and *not* getting there – it still feels unreal.
So, I’m counting my blessings and my lucky stars.
I’m also still learning how this works. I don’t think I’ve posted recently on word count goals and sustainability. For a while there, when I went to writing full time, I tried for 5,000 words/day. And I can do it. I have the time. I can write that much in a day, and I can sustain that output for a week or two, working five days/week. Which is great for getting 50K in a couple of weeks.
BUT…
And I set that out as a big, bold BUT – my overall productivity for 2016 went down, despite this elevated goal. I sat down with my spreadsheets (FTW!) to figure out why. It turns out those 25K weeks come with a high price for me. I would follow those with rebound weeks where I got very little done. I’d work and work… and come up dry. I’d drained the well.
This makes no sense to me, as it feels like there shouldn’t be an energetic limit on creativity. I tried all sorts of methods to find a way to sustain the higher daily wordcounts.
Nope. I always paid the price in lower productivity. Even when I *thought* I was doing fine, my wordcount majory dropped. The numbers don’t lie.
So, in 2017, I resolved to keep my wordcount goals to about 3K/day, five days a week. Not only does this feel relatively easy, I can sustain it, week after week. I no longer get those unproductive rebound weeks. The upshot is, though I’m getting 10K less per week, I’m on track to beat my 2016 wordcount by a significant margin.
This also means that I typically finish early in the day – usually by 1 or 2, since I’m a morning writer – and I sometimes feel at loose ends. After so many years of managing two careers, it feels weird to have free time and not use it to work. So, I’m doing things to fix up the house. I’m gardening, reading more, seeing friends.
And I’m contemplating the value of a creative hobby that isn’t about income.
When I was a new writer and taking every class I could, the US Poet Laureate at the time, Ted Kooser, came to the university to give a week-long class. I’m not really a poet and poetry has never been my focus, but I took every opportunity that knocked.
He was just terrific and I learned a great deal from him. But what sticks out in my mind has nothing to do with the craft of writing. What I’ve always remembered about him is that he also painted – beautifully – but had a hard and fast rule that he wouldn’t sell his paintings. He only gave them away. People sometimes argued with him about this. Why not sell this art, too? And he explained that he wanted that one thing to not be about earning money.
That came back to me recently during a conversation with Anne Calhoun. She made a quilt for her sister’s wedding and commented on how fun it was to simply Make a Thing that was unconnected to money. I replied – with some envy – that I used to quilt all the time, and loved it, but gave that up because I needed to spend that time and energy on writing.
And I now understand what Ted Kooser meant. There’s a value to creating something without thinking about paying bills with it. It’s restful in a way. Refilling that well.
I might take up quilting again.
A few extra things. I met a debut author Genevieve LaViolette and she wrote a charming blog post about it. Features lovely comments about me, so I had to share.
Also, I mentioned Sunday about my PRISM finals – that list is up here. Congrats to all!
//
Lonen’s War is on sale for .99₵! If you haven’t read it – or if you’ve been bugging your friends to give it a try 😉 – this is the perfect time to grab a copy.
I’m doing this in part to celebrate my good news: THE PAGES OF THE MIND and THE EDGE OF THE BLADE are both finalists in the fantasy category of the Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal (FFP) PRISM Award! It’s always a thrill to be a finalist, but with two books in there, I have my fingers crossed that maybe I’ll get one of these:
Only with, yanno, MY name and book on it! A girl can dream.
Marketing: Book Trailers, Vine Vids, and Gifs: Can/Would/Could Animated Ads Work For You? I’m also asking readers if these kinds of things work for them. Come on over to the SFF Seven for more.
//
I was trying to get the moon in the clouds last night, but this ended up looking like an avenging angel swooping in over the Santa Fe Railyard.
Even better!
Particularly as we were sitting outside, having some lovely prosecco, after watching WONDER WOMAN. Speaking of avenging angels.
So, yes, I am joining the hoards who are totally in love with this movie. Even though I made a point of seeing this in the theater – which I rarely do, as I stream most movies at home – I still didn’t expect to be so thrilled with it.
The Amazons were incredible! My fantastic (Campbell-award nominated!) writer friend, Kelly Robson, pointed out that there are only women in the movie for a long time. I hadn’t even noticed, but I reveled in the skill, power, wisdom, and athleticism of the Amazons. The armor! Those muscular thighs! The sparring and battling!
It made me realize how starved I was to see heroines like this. They were never once silly or clumsy or apologetic. When they died battling the Germans, they died heroically. And when they kicked ass, they did it mightily!
Diana Prince/Wonder Woman is everything I could want in a heroine. She is courageous, firm in her convictions, a mighty warrior, and full of compassion. The moment she kneels behind her shield fending off a hail of machine-gun fire gave me chills. As if all the horrible events of the recent months could be dashed away as easily, if only we keep to our resolve. Wonder Woman never once falters. She battles on with strength, agility, and integrity.
Her relationship with Steve Trevor was pitch perfect. And not only because it’s exactly the kind of relationship I like my fantasy heroines to have! They enjoyed each other’s humor, their friendship deepening beyond the obvious physical attraction. They complemented each other’s skills and the movie absolutely allowed him to play supporting role to her heroism. He loved her in all her brilliance and power – never once detracting or mansplaining.
If I ever get to have my Twelve Kingdoms and Uncharted Realms books made into movies, I would love, love, love for Patty Jenkins to direct. The woman totally gets it. It’s good to have things to wish for and that’s top of my list now.
A girl can dream! She can also kick serious ass and still have love and compassion.
//
For those who don’t follow me on Instagram or Twitter, this is our agave flower spike. It’s fixing to bloom any day now. Really spectacular!
Some of my friends find this monster spike unsettling and alien. More than one has compared it to the flesh-eating, massively growing plant in Little Shop of Horrors.
I can see their (okay, pretty melodramatic) point. But there was something about that manipulative plant, whose hunger for human flesh could never be sated, that sticks in our heads and still gives us the creeps.
We could say it’s that atavistic and animal instinct to avoid the predator. I’d go a step further and say that stories of this type warn us of another great peril of being human: the overweening ego. That’s our topic this week, asking each other “How Do You Keep It Humble?” aka “Great Cautionary Tales: the Enormous Ego Edition.” Come on over to the SFF Seven for my tips on how NOT to have this happen to you.
//
This isn’t a great shot, but these little girls are so awesomely adorable. We got to attend our granddaughter’s spring dance recital yesterday. The costumes were amazing. So much fun.
Our topic this week at the SFF Seven is editing: do we use editors or do it ourselves, how long does editing take, etc. As you may have guessed from the title, I’m somewhat passionate on this topic. Come on over to find out why.
//
The charming Lawrence Schoen invited me to his “Eating Authors” blog series – which I sincerely believe does NOT mean any authors will be consumed. Come on over to hear my answer on my most memorable meal.
//
I’m over at the SFF Seven, talking about my hats and author branding in general. Come on over to read more!
//
Coming in two weeks!!! The next Missed Connections book: WITH A PRINCE.
It’s out on May 30. Yes, that’s sooner than I’d originally predicted, but enough of you loved LAST DANCE and said sparkly things to me about wanting Marcia’s book, that I caved and went ahead and wrote.
Really, you made me excited about the story, too. And the timing worked out. Win all around!!!
You can preorder the book here. Or – and this is NEW – read through Kindle Unlimited. Yes, I’m putting WITH A PRINCE, LAST DANCE, and EXACT WARM UNHOLY (all the indie contemporary erotic romance books) on Kindle Unlimited. Tell your KU-loving friends!
A challenge for you all: I need to name the coffee and pastry shop referred to in this book, which will undoubtedly crop up in later books. The reference comes up in a conversation between Charley, Marcia, and Amy, as follows:
“Finish the story, Marcia, or I’ll sit on you. Prince Charming plops himself next to you, sees that you’re romanticizing the stalkery post and…”
“And nothing! What was the plan? He’d walk me from my L stop, and, oh, then we’d stop at some cute little bar and—”
“No, that pastry shop you love,” Amy inserted.
“Oh yeah.” Charley nodded. “Marcia would fall for the guy who says ‘let’s stop at [name], have a cupcake and an espresso and talk.’”
So, what should we call it? Comment here or on social media with ideas and the winner gets a prize! Free book of her choice and a listing in the Acknowledgements. Hey, let’s “sweeten” the deal! The person who suggests the name I choose gets a cupcake from me! I’ll go for local delivery, if possible. If you’re international… we’ll work something out.
Give me your Little Shoppe of Pastries ideas!
Also, this is what WITH A PRINCE is about:
The guy on the train is just Marcia’s type. A face like an angel, a scent like raw honey, treats her like he has a white horse and suit of armor stowed in his messenger bag. Perfect.
Too perfect. No guy like that would be interested in prim, awkward Marcia, notorious goody-goody and a twenty-something still clutching her v-card. She’s been following rules her whole life—but somewhere, the game changed. And left her behind.
So when she meets Damien, with his rumbling motorbike, gleaming piercings, and wicked imagination, she doesn’t care that he’s the exact opposite of “her type.” Her type would never dare her into such shocking, fiendishly inventive adventures—and she can’t wait to say yes.
Yes to whiskey in the middle of a workday. Yes to letting her hands roam over his body from the back of his bike. Yes to a fling full of wild abandon and absolutely no long-term potential. Except Damien’s not just the straightforward bad boy she imagined. And as they burn through Chicago’s nights, Marcia can’t shake the fear that this happiness is just another fairy tale…
Just leaving this preorder link here again… 😉
//
One of my favorite pictures of my mother, embodying all her effervescence and zest for life – letting her fringe fly.
It’s apropos for me that week’s topic – which has to do with attempting to be both a writer and a socially acceptable person – falls on Mother’s Day. My mother is tremendously social person. She’s good at it, and she loves it. Me… well, I’ve always struggled a bit with feeling like I’m not as good at it, and it took me a really long time to understand that about myself. Come on over to the SFF Seven to read more.