What's up? or...Whattup?

I often throw out tidbits about life, books, and whatever! If you want to comment back, friend me at Myspace or Facebook.

Ramblings:

I just finished Ilona Andrews' MAGIC BLEEDS. I really enjoy the Kate Daniels series, as well as their Edge series. In the acknowledgment, they say that this book was difficult to write. I could tell in a few places, but otherwise the story was great. Kate and Curran finally take their romance to a big, new level. I know romance readers have been waiting for that for a long time, and it was very satisfying.

As an author, I can totally relate to the book being hard to write. You'd think, after a fair number of books, it would get easier. And sometimes it is, and we get lulled into thinking, "Ah hah, I've finally got it figured out!" Then we're slammed back into reality by the next book, which is like wrestling with a bear. I've had this happen a couple of times. My last book, which I just finished, wasn't exactly difficult to write, but it had me banging my head against my keyboard several times trying to figure out where I was going next. Or my characters would simply stop talking, and I knew I'd gone off track somewhere. I would walk the loop that's in my neighborhood and come back with a tidbit. Not the tidbit I was looking for, but at least something for my effort. I guess you'd call it a literary crumb. When you're in this state, you're happy for it, believe me.

I once heard a well-respected, New York Times bestselling author lament that every book was difficult to write, and so she'd put it off for as long as she could. Inevitably, the book would be months late, and years would go by between books. I can't imagine doing this if it weren't fun, at least some of the time. Writing is easy. Creating can be a bitch. And it can be so fantastic, it's like falling in love the first time. That first glance across the room is a glimmer of the idea. Just a line or two. Maybe a sexy guy saying something. It intrigues and beckons you to walk closer. And soon, you're dancing together, flowing, caught up in the music, and then—bam! You trip and fall, or the music stops and leaves you awkwardly standing there on the dance floor. Or even worse, your idea just walks off and leaves you standing alone on the dance floor. Alas, I've had a few do this to me, the teases.

Sometimes it's someone else who steps in and interrupts. That would be either an agent or editor who doesn't love the idea or doesn't think it's going to do well. Luckily there are many other partners all waiting to snag me. I love the dance of writing, even if I get my toes stepped on once in a while.

Having just finished a book, I really should take some creative downtime. But no, those ideas, three of them, are giving me come-hither looks. The music's calling. And here I go again.