10 Things I know about my writing

1) I try too hard to achieve an illusive perfection. I have to create an opening hook before I can begin a scene, be it action or dialogue, so I know where I need to start. That's probably why I haven't written anything on a new paranormal premise yet. Too many ideas and no idea where to begin yet. This is also why I write so slowly- I edit as I go and tend to agonize over word choice and sentence structure. So don't ever look for more than 2 books a year from me.

2) The writing goes so much better on the rare occasions that I can let go and trust my Muse. (It all goes back to that perfection thing). There are certain passages/ scenes in all four of my books that I can remember freewriting and thinking the whole time that they were going to suck... But they ended up being better than expected and I hardly did any editing. The problem of course is getting myself into that zone.

3) I don't consider writing my job. Sure, I've sold some books and I'm contracted for some more. But as to whether this is my 'career', that remains to be seen. You see, I've hated some or every part of every job I've ever had. Jobs are work- they are [usually] not fun. And if I'm not having fun with what I'm writing, it soo shows in the quality of the work and the length of the revision letter.

4) I'm never going to build a name for myself. On the one hand, I'll keep writing for Blaze as long as they want me. But there are a lot of other things I want to do, like this novella and this romantic mystery and several paranormals, a time travel and an off-planet fantasy and and and... What that means is I probably won't be very marketable to agents or editors, who it's my impression want you to stick with the same genre and style long enough to build a strong readership.

5) I'm behind the learning curve. Back in 2000, I was one of several authors who won the Harlequin Blaze contest. The other winners included Nancy Warren [who has written 27+ books since then] and Joanne Rock [who has 26+ books]. Without making any comparisons regarding talent, one big difference is that both Joanne and Nancy had completed several manuscripts before they sold. I sold my first completed manuscript and so still have a lot to learn and I have to learn it in public.

6) I need to be better disciplined. Even though I prefer to think of writing as a hobby, I still need to do some of it every day. However, between ADHD and a tendency to take on more than I can do, it's incredibly easy for me to get distracted by things like community beach cleanups and baskets of dirty laundry and speechwriting for conferences and and and. I have a really nice office now but some days I think I need Alison Kent's closet where there are zero distractions.

7) I have my own way of doing things and I need to stick with that. That sounds obvious, but in an industry of generous people who willingly share their advice and techniques it's easy to lose sight of your own process. My creative partner is a Plunger- she jumps right into the story with her aromatherapy and signature music and just pours words onto the page. I am a Stepper- testing the water of my characters as I create them and see what kind of story fits them. I had a great experience in New Orleans last month but I'm not able to plunge into the story as Lisa wants because I need to know who these people are.

8) I have to know my characters better than I know myself. And getting to know anyone takes time. Many writers advocate learning about the characters as they produce the pages. But for me the pages won't come if I don't know what kinds of situations my heroine might find herself in [is she more likely to be in a bar or a bookstore?] and how she acts and reacts to any given environment etc. I didn't do anywhere near as much character work on the heroes for my last two books as in my first two. But then my last two were about the heroine's growth.

9) I have to write my stories in complex layers. I didn't always do it consciously but in all four of my books the themes involve redemption, forgiveness and female empowerment. Many critics outside the romance genre and inside of it look down on series/ category books as nothing but sex-filled fluff. Yes, I write sensual romance but I do my damnedest to create a story that has depth and meaning and uplifting messages. My books, ultimately, are about the growth of the spirit, about discovering you can be something more but in essence realizing you're already someone special.

10) I have to write my stories my way. I admit it- I have no idea what the current market trends are and I read very few books in my genre, though I do buy them to support my friends. I won't go into details but my editor and I harshly disagreed on a subplot in AD. I tried for several days to delete what she objected to, but in the end I had to tell her the subplot was staying in. It was integral to my heroine's character development and to the development of the romance. So I guess this goes back to the trust issue in #2- Everything works better when I trust The Fiction Fairy.