Kerfluffle! And Stories!
So yesterday was spent frantically emailing about all the kerfluffle in Romancelandia, where the drama llama is so very drama all other llamas go home. There’s death threats from cover models, accusations from magazine editors, and homophobia.
And you thought Dallas was interesting.
In between all that, I managed to get 2K out of the way on the new Jill book. While this week is going on I’m concentrating on new work. Next week, while I’m detoxing (and just a note to everyone, next week and half a week after that I am STAYING HOME. That’s all there is to it.) I will be eyeing the copyedits for Valentine 4 and revisions on Valentine 5, which should be a snap in both cases because the stories are DONE and the characters are OUT OF MY HEAD.
It’s a weird thing to have a character you’ve been living with for five books out of your cranium. Danny and Japh go on, of course, I just don’t have to see it. I check in every once in a while, see how they’re doing, but they don’t possess me like they used to. (Which is good. If you’ve ever had a Necromance, a demon, Jill the hunter, and a Watcher fighting for control of your head, you’ll understand.) That’s two characters (plus supporting players) down, infinity to go.
Aren’t you afraid you’ll run out of ideas? a well-meaning student once asked me. I had to restrain the urge to snort, when monkeys fly out my butt, Grasshopper.
The ideas are always there. Plot bunnies abound. To be a writer is to have an imagination on ADD and caffeine cocktails, always playing with ramifications, what-ifs, and character quirks. Story is the intersection of chance and consequence, and there’s an infinite supply of both in the world. All one has to do is look for it.
I used to worry about running out of stories to tell until I realized there were stories lined up around the block, patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for the moment to filter through my head and into my fingers. There is no way I can finish them all, but I’m ding-dang going to try. At least I will have a lot of fun.
If there’s laptops in the afterlife I’ll continue there, although the marketing might be different. Heh.
Seriously, though. If you can’t find something to write about in this varied, wonderful, wonderfully rich world of ours…well, maybe writing isn’t for you. Maybe plumbing, or pizza delivery, or something else is for you. The world is a garden full of ripe stories falling to the ground.
Happy picking.
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