I'm going to cry
I've never ever struggled with a book the way I've struggled with this one. I can't get it right. I just can't. Everything is wrong with it and I cannot figure out what to do to fix it. I'm at such a loss, and it's due in five weeks, so I look at the calender and start to freak out, which of course doesn't help with the "clear mind, clear thoughts" problemsolving mindset I need.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to work one's way out of this kind of situation???
Warm Fuzzies are the best!
As you all know, I'm struggling through my WIP, trying to get a handle on the story. It's hard. Times like this make you question your competence and I have to fight against the frustration. And then I get an email like the one below that just came in this morning, and suddenly, everything feels all right again, becuase I realize that I CAN do it, even if it feels so hopelessly difficult right now. Thank you to all the readers who take the time to let me know how much they enjoyed my books. You have no idea how much I treasure each and every one of those emails!
And here is today's inspirational email:
"I'm SO excited for the second book in the series! I absolutely LOVED Date me Baby, I bought it after reading the back cover only a day agoand read it non-stop in less then a day. It was PERFECT, exactly whatI've been looking for in a book, funny, smart, interesting, SEXY, and of course magical. Satan's character was hilarious, and everything was just... priceless. Thanks so much for making a book that good. -Brittany"
I'm printing this email out and taping it to my monitor to remind me that I CAN do this.
Warm Fuzzies are the best!
As you all know, I'm struggling through my WIP, trying to get a handle on the story. It's hard. Times like this make you question your competence and I have to fight against the frustration. And then I get an email like the one below that just came in this morning, and suddenly, everything feels all right again, becuase I realize that I CAN do it, even if it feels so hopelessly difficult right now. Thank you to all the readers who take the time to let me know how much they enjoyed my books. You have no idea how much I treasure each and every one of those emails!
And here is today's inspirational email:
"I'm SO excited for the second book in the series! I absolutely LOVED Date me Baby, I bought it after reading the back cover only a day agoand read it non-stop in less then a day. It was PERFECT, exactly whatI've been looking for in a book, funny, smart, interesting, SEXY, and of course magical. Satan's character was hilarious, and everything was just... priceless. Thanks so much for making a book that good. -Brittany"
I'm printing this email out and taping it to my monitor to remind me that I CAN do this.
Why I'm a good mom
This is why I'm a good mom. Because I am working hard to brainwash my daughter before she is old enough to realize the wisdom of not listening to me. I hereby introduce a future Red Sox fan who will have her heart broken by the hometown boys many, many times over her lifetime. See how she's smiling? She's already buying into it. Go Red Sox!
How many more times do I need to learn this lesson?
OKay, I'm struggling with my WIP. Feeling low. Feeling like I shall never create anything readable again.
So, to procrastinate, I search the web and start reading blogs and websites of authors who are more successful than I am. Um, hello? That is not what my ego needs right now! I don't need to sit there and realize how much better all these other author at my job! I mean, yeah, sometimes that's a good reminder because it keeps me working hard to get better and improve, but right now I need an injection of confidence, not a clock upside the head with a frying pan!
Silly, silly, girl. When will I ever learn?
Anita Blake: Porn or Hot, Sexy Urban Fantasy that Rocks?
Go check out my blog entry over on
The Midnight Hour and let me know what you think!
need some vibes...
There's something simmering the Rowe kitchen-o-writing... needing some vibes from ya'll... ohm... ohm... ohm...
keep 'em coming. I'll let you know when I find out if they worked.
ohm... ohm... ohm...
bad hair
Okay, so if you have flat, thin, straight hair that makes you look bald except when you're hanging upside down by your knees, raise your hand!
Stephanie raises her hand.Okay, those of you with your hands up, keep 'em raised if your hair sucks.
Stephanie raises both hands and puts her left foot in the air too.See, the only people who look good with straight, flat hair are supermodels, and, let's be frank, how many of us are supermodels? I am on my third haircut place (oh, sorry,
stylist) in three months and every day I get up, wash my hair, attack the blow dryer with renewed vigor, determined that TODAY my hair will look good.
And every day, by the end, I wonder if maybe, just maybe, I'm being punished for something. Or maybe my spirit guides are simply trying to tell me to shave it all off already.
But if only supermodels look good with straight, flat hair, then the list is even shorter as to women who look good with their hair shaved off.
I am doomed either way. Sigh.
Ow.
Sometimes writing a book is like the best orgasm in the world. Just one long high and when it's over, you sit back and let your body quiver with happy exhaustion.
Other times, writing a book is like taking a cement block and slamming it into your head. Repeatedly. All day. All night. While being forced to watch your worst enemy steal the guy of your dreams right
before he's about to announce his undying love for you. While your house burns down the day after you realize you forgot to pay your insurance bill. And, on top of it all, it's the day for new ID pictures to be taken at work, and you're having a bad hair day from hell. Literally. And then it starts all over again.
Guess which kind of book I'm writing right now?
That's right. It's a bad-hair-cement-block kind of book.
To give you an idea of how it's going, I'm on my ninth iteration in three weeks. By "iteration" I mean, "Write fifty pages, then delete all of them, spend two days trying to figure out what's wrong, decide I got it, write sixty new pages, then delete all of them, spend two days brainstorming... etc." By the time this 400 page book is done, it's going to actually be about 1000 pages. JK Rowlings has nothing on me. Yeah. Go, Stephanie. Rah. Rah.
But I think it I finally got it right. I'm on page 5. I'll let you know. Oh, and it's due in six weeks. That makes it even more fun.
