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As a young teen, I spent a few summers at a Boy Scout camp with my family. The counselors there coined phrase that we used for everything; “It’s only funny until someone gets hurt … and then it’s funnier”.

Between Fun and Funnier – that’s where I am these days.

Writing is a lot of fun.  Seriously.  I love coming up with the characters, their names, their jobs, their quirks, the whole nine yards.  I love crafting the story.  I love how it feels to be so entrenched in the first draft that I literally FEEL every single emotion.  I float around in a satisfied fog for days after I finish a first draft.  Hope is alive!

After awhile, though, that fog wears off and life intrudes.  In a desperate effort to get that happy state back, I pick up my completed manuscript with the *completely unreal* expectation that it just needs a little polishing – some commas here, replace a word there.  Yep.

Several drafts will come and go, that satisfied glow dimming a little with each pass until one day I think, “This is good stuff”, and send it off to the publisher.  For a few days, I revel in the glow I’ve managed to reclaim.  It’s done!  Another book on the docket.

Then the edits arrive.  Fun just became funnier.  Reviewing edits and rewriting scenes requires stamina.  And I don’t just mean the energy required to sit at my desk and review hundreds of pages of words in minute detail in a very short timeline.  Rewriting is a painful process!  That conversation that played out so perfectly in my mind?  Yep.  Didn’t make sense to the editor – CHANGED!  That clever sentence? Not Pulitzer prize worthy after all.  Cut that sucker!  Stephen King calls it ‘killing your darlings’.  Some days that’s exactly how it feels.

And, I’m just going to put this right out there – for a romance writer, there’s the super awkward task of reviewing the edits on sex scenes.  There it is.  As if it wasn’t bad enough writing it the first time – now I get to see what he/she thought of it, and review it again in the tiniest, most granular detail.  What is he wearing?  Where is she standing?  Are they close enough to do that?  When did he put that there?  It’s excruciating!

Aside from the hours of work involved in polishing the manuscript into what my editor and I agree is the best possible version, there’s the inevitable emotional toll it takes on me.  My day job requires a lot of diplomacy and mental agility.  I like to think I have tough skin.  I’ve learned to take disagreement and even criticism with a smile.  And I can do that with my writing, too.  Unless you don’t like my characters.  They’re my kryptonite.  These characters are my imaginary friends, practically my children.  A piece of me.

It’s really, really difficult not to internalize an editors comments.  It’s only fun until someone gets hurt.  And then it’s funnier.  Well, maybe I’ll think so later.  Until then, please hug the book you’re reading.  A lot of sweat and tears went into the making of each and every one (dare I say even the bad ones?).  And, read on, dear friends!

“Whatcha been up to?”

I love this question in the context of a co-worker/wife/mom/friend. I can fill my response with likely much more than the querier asked for. As a writer, it’s a little scary. Inevitably, my response is going to be “Umm, well …”. And it won’t be because I haven’t been up to anything. In my mind I’ve been quite busy. Why, just yesterday I plotted an entire series I want to write for my middle school aged children about surviving these crazy years. An hour ago I visualized the perfect scene for book 2 of my contemporary romance Wolf Creek series. And last night I dreamed up the plot for a hypothetical book 4 for Wolf Creek. But, do I have anything to show for all of this? Nope. Not a word. Okay, maybe a title. Maybe even a wrinkled, dirty sticky note in my purse that I will one day magically transform into a 90,000 page masterpiece.

My answer today will be that life has been busy inspiring me. In just two short weeks (and counting!) my evenings will no longer be consumed by 5th and 3rd grade common core math homework, or dance practices, or Cub Scout activities. It will be light until 10pm and there will be no need for my angels to get up before dawn. These beautiful changes all conspire to bless me with 2 extra hours in my day where I can live in my imaginary town, with my imaginary friends that I love to position just so, like the adult version of playing with Barbie. In just two short weeks, my fantasy life begins!

I am very excited to learn that my publisher has branched out with a new imprint that will publish titles that don’t trend toward the erotic side of the genre. I am SO there and I hope you will be too.

So, for my readers (all three of you, just kidding) that have been asking for proof of this fun new series I’ve been working on, rest assured. It’s coming! And so is summer. Let us all give thanks and enjoy.

 

I think we all must have that certain someone we picture in our minds when we read or hear a romantic story. Maybe it’s our first crush, our first love or some hot guy on TV. For me, there are a few. There is, of course, Colin Firth who was perfect as Mr. Darcy in A&E’s version of Pride and Prejudice and then again as Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones’s Diary. Who wouldn’t love to have a man like that fall in love with our imperfect little selves, right? (Picturing Renee Zellweger running through the snowy streets of London in her underwear …)

Then there is Thor (Chris Hemsworth). He’s built like the demi-god he is and he gives up a kingdom to live on Earth with the woman he loves. Again, what’s not to love?

But my favorite favorite hero is Jason Statham. To put a name with a movie, he was in The Italian Job, The Expendables and several other action movies. Jason is well-versed in martial arts and has a Scottish accent. He never plays romantic roles and somehow that makes him the perfect candidate for a romantic hero. As my personal FB friends can attest, I regularly share pictures of him. A picture of Jason can brighten anyone’s Monday! Oh, and don’t tell Mr. Kribs this, but I think he looks an awful lot like him which just adds to Jason’s appeal.

Who is your favorite hero?

The question I am most often asked when people learn that I am a writer is “How do you come up with your ideas?”

The short answer:  I dream them.  Every story I’ve written has come to me in a dream.  I call these my “story dreams”.  I know that a story dream has “meat” when I can recall the dream days later and still remember the details and feelings that surrounded it.  

What sets a story dream apart from every other dream I have is the level of detail I see/hear/feel.  In story dreams there is a purpose, characters, and feelings.  I see entire scenes in my mind and wake up remembering how the characters felt and knowing their goals.  I love, love those dreams!  There have been times that I bolted out of bed to write something down in the middle of the night so that I would remember it in the morning (much to Mr. Kribs’ irritation).  

For several days after one of these story dreams I will sit and daydream, playing out the scenes and scenarios in my head until a plot develops.  I imagine I must look and act pretty spacey but I cannot snap myself out of it until I’ve watched and made notes on the key scenes.  Once I’ve put my ideas down I can set the story aside and pick it up again when I have the time or motivation to fluff out the dialogue and details.

I currently have three stories just waiting for me to give them life.