Love-Hate Relationship.

I’ve been at this manuscript, Waiting for April, for a while now.  As in - over two years.  Of course, in that time I’ve written other things (the sequel), and taken breaks when it has been off with betas or I’ve done beta-reading myself, and when I’ve been off having babies (well, I had a break during the 14 hours of labour, anyway). 

This concept has no intention of letting me go.  I think about it when I’m supposed to be socializing (sorry, guys and gals, but when I’m staring off into space, I’m writing), when I’m watching TV, and well, pretty much every minute of every day.  Right now, though, it feels like I’m clinging to a hot guy who’s been trying to break up with me for a while now.  Not that I really know what that feels like (I married my high school sweetheart), but you know what I’m saying.

Don’t get me wrong – I will finish it.  I will query it.  I will not stop until I’m represented and this book hits the shelves/e-shelves, and it will be the biggest achievement of my life (aside from pushing out two gorgeous kiddies).  Maybe I’m speaking out of lack of sleep.  Maybe I’ve just hit a rough patch in revisions.  Again.  Maybe I’ve just read one too many great manuscripts lately *shakes fist at Sarah Fine and Tracy Buscemi*. 

But I wonder: how many people get this far in, only to trash their novel?  Have you ever been completely in love with a premise, but broken up with it without following through?  How do you overcome these nagging, negative thoughts whilst revising?

Those Two Words that Writers Hate.

So, after being super eager to get my blog up and running, I went and abandoned you all.  My bad!  I promise I’ll try harder to post a regular ... um ... post.  But what has me holed up, you ask?  Two words: Writer’s block. 

Well, it wasn’t writer’s block straight away.  I did some beta-reading (one of my awesome beta partners, Sarah Fine, sent me an un-put-down-able manuscript), I sent her my manuscript, we spoke, we bounced ideas off of one another, we laughed, I cried when it was decided my manuscript needed a complete overhaul – and then I got down to business. 

Everything was running smoothly.  I was adding the necessary chapters in order to have a consistently alternating PoV, instead of a couple of chapters for one character, then one chapter for another, and so on.  I was having fun adding more personality to my characters.  I tweaked, I deleted, I got over my fear of short chapters ... and now I’m stuck again. 

On a short chapter. 

It’s a pivotal moment.  I could add tension, but there’s already a lot of tension.  I could add more secrets, but there are already a lot of those, too.  It’s one night – the night before all hell breaks loose – and I’ve got nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  But I NEED to come up with something in order to maintain that alternating PoV.

So I’m procrastinating.  I’m eating – a lot.  I’m checking Twitter every three seconds, and even scraping the bottom of the barrel by checking Facebook, too.  I’m ready to pounce on any DM, any Gmail Chat window, any comment that would give me a good excuse to minimise my manuscript document.

My question to you is: What do you do when you’ve got writer’s block?  Do you read?  Do you watch TV?  Do you exercise?  Do you sit at the computer and stare at the screen until an idea jumps out at you?

Please answer me.  Checking blog comments will give me something to do. J

Oh, and you can check out Sarah Fine’s blog here.  If you haven’t already, I promise you, you won’t regret it.  It’s coated in awesomesauce. J

New Kid on the Block!

Well, here I am with a shiny new blog ...

*takes a deep breath* ...

*leans back in chair and drums fingers on table* ...

*checks watch and glances around room* ...

Oh, right!  I should start by writing something for followers (hello!) to read.  So, gentle viewers readers, this is what you should know about me - if you don't already know me, that is. :)

I'm short, loud, honest (sometimes a little too honest - think Anya, from Buffy), and easily distracted.  I'm a wife, a mother, a horse rider, and a skater.  I love dancing, but you won't find me in a nightclub these days.  On a Friday night you're likely to find me playing Halo Reach with 11 of my geek friends, eating pizza, and smack-talking the other team.  Oh yes.    

I'm a medical scientist who went and got a 'real' job, just as my mother had told me to do.  "Use your brain," she'd said, "and do what you love in your spare time."

What she failed to mention was I'd be constantly spending my 'real' job time wishing I'd followed my heart, instead of my brain.  It took me around 12 years to rediscover myself through writing.  It was 2009, and my son was just a baby.  I had some free time, and an idea for a paranormal romance novel (and no, it wasn't about vampires!).  Two years later, I'm just as in love with my idea and my characters as I was when I started turning images and conversations into chapters.  No, actually, I probably love them more.  My only regret is that I didn't follow my dreams sooner. 

So if you'd like to follow my journey, I'd be more than happy to share it with you.  Please, feel free to introduce yourselves in the comments section so that I can get to know you, too!