Good stuff even in the middle of the stress festival -- but more on that later, though the highlight is that I will be crowned zombie queen-- I got a mention in the Snarkling Clean title contest. See, some good *can* come out of free-associating bad plays on the word "sheikh."

DH has informed me that the stuff for a contest I'm judging has landed on our doorstep, so there will be that to look forward to also. Which is good, because it's stressorama with the DH's work schedule (there aren't enough people who can do that thing he does, so he has to keep doing it and put off a muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch-needed vacation for a couple more weeks) plus the annoying health thing fairies have thwapped us both with their sticks. Nothing life threatening, but extremely annoying, yes.

Which is why it's actually extremely relaxing to open a file and spend time in the English Civil War, or crack open a much loved paperback and follow a beloved heroine through Elizabethan England, or pluck a promisingly thick medieval from the TBR mountain range.

My brain is dead, I have reached tilt, there are miles to go before I sleep, but God is good, I have romance novels, and I have accepted the fact that yes, my black jeans are now officially too big. Cloud, lining, all that. I will obtain food, inspect package, and then play Sims2 until I go facedown on the keyboard. Because tomorrow I have to sail into the Irish Sea, and try to bust out of an abandoned mumblemumble in Holland.

Well, that was a hiatus

Not that I'd meant to not blog or anything. I could blame weather, family, pre-Christmas preparation, a beggy kitty who thinks *she* should be my laptop or my newly found DVD addiction, but lo and behold, the days go by. I found out that my college roommate and her husband adopted their infant son...and gave him the same first name as another friend and his wife gave their newborn. Which is the same name as an adult and at least one child in my church, so I'm going to have to add it to the "please specify last name" name list. Make no mistake, friends getting babies is *always* a good thing, and I know both sets of parents are going to be great. Much happiness all around. As for the DH and me, we like our own kids to have four legs and fur.

I really and truly have a book coming out in a couple of weeks. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ::Snoopy dance:: Review sites have copies, and comments are starting to come in, so that adds a new facet on things. I think I may actually have to put stuff in the scrapbook this year, not just buy a lot of pretty paper. Though I will still do that.

Finally got to see Bride and Predjudice yesterday and oh my dancing Naveen Andrews, did I love that movie. Enough to rewatch most of Love, Actually while working on presents. Both were great reminders of why I love to read and write romance. Also that while my body may be lugging two loads of laundry, takeout dinner and my tote up the icy front steps in my high heeled boots, my mind can be happily occupied at a cosy English Christmas dinner if I so desire.

Currently reading Frank Perretti's Monster and taunting the DH that there's a sasquatch with his name in the story (though spelled differently) along with my first Stephanie Laurens, Captain Jack's Woman -- which my friend, Linda, will forever make me snicker at the title as it shares a name, but not an allusion, with a song by Billy Joel. Lyrics not for consumption of the tender, but they're real, and I do love me some Billy Joel for that very reason; his music creates a time and place that I can live and breathe, and I want to write like that.

Must also state on the same thread that Linda and I did have a bit of a riff on finding similarities to the book and song. They both have a guy who likes the heroin(e); people wear English clothes in both, and both do mention a village. Though I'm pretty sure the book will have a happier ending.

Season of Joy

I had a lovely time talking today with a writer friend I've known for...well, if our friendship were a person it could go to grade school. Or maybe junior high. The conversation fell, as it often does, to inspiration or the lack thereof, which fit her current situation. How is someone supposed to write when it feels like a second job and the first one takes all the mental energy anyway?

Really good question. I think we all can identify with that at one time or another. When real life packs a whallop, it can be very hard to get into story mode. We talked some about pressure and expectations and the huge cement wall they can build between writer and story.

I asked if she could remember a time when writing was really fun -- what happened then that isn't happening now? The answer was quick -- thinking of romances gone wrong on favorite TV shows and how they should have been. Ideas for those all over the place.

Did she have one such story she really really really wanted to tell, even if she knew for a fact nobody would ever see it? Not an agent, not an editor, not her kitties, not me, not anybody but her and her alone. Sure! She was off like a shot, creative and enthusiasitc.

What if...what if she wrote that one? Don't think about selling or career planning right now. Put in a box and set it aside and write a really good story. Enjoy it. There's time to go back later, change the names and identifying details. Figure out the core of the story and characters and see if there's another time and place for the essence of it all. I've been known to do that a time or two. It's worth a try when stuck, and I will admit to a few stories or parts of stories lingering around waiting for an update.

It's that what if thing we writer types have going on in the back of our brains. Sometimes it needs a workout just because, go back to something familiar and take it in a new direction. Might be worth checking my old files...just for fun.