IWSG: Define and Declare! Kind of. Maybe.

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I've pretty much always written what I wanted. I didn't worry about the genre or the age of the audience or the length of the piece. I've written horror, contemporary, and humorous stories. I've written for adults and YA. I've written short stories, flash and hint fiction.

But every once in awhile, I get it into my head that I need to define and declare myself as a writer - I am a YA horror writer! I am a women's fiction author! I then throw myself into learning the "rules," studying up, reading articles and blog posts…only to have a totally different story idea rise up and demand to be written, definition of who I now am as a writer be damned!

Sigh.

I could use a pseudonym, but I've written proudly under my own name for so long that I really don't want to go down that route unless absolutely necessary.

But I worry. What will readers expect when they see my name on a story? Will those who love the creepy stuff be disappointed in a more heartwarming piece? Will those expecting a "nice" story end up hiding under the bed, terrified of crazy spiders and monsters lurking near baseball fields? I don't want to let any of my readers down.

Have you defined yourself as a writer? If so, how? Was it easy, like you always knew you wanted to write mysteries, or did you struggle with the decision? If you write all over the place like I do, how do you handle it? Does it worry you at all, or am I just over-thinking it?

Motivational Monday

I LIKE LIVING.

I HAVE SOMETIMES BEEN

WILDLY DESPAIRING,

ACUTELY MISERABLE,

RACKED WITH SORROW

BUT THROUGH IT ALL 

I STILL KNOW QUITE CERTAINLY 

THAT JUST TO BE ALIVE IS A GRAND THING.

(Agatha Christie)

I find joy in the oddest places. I used to think I was weird that such quirky things and small moments would bring me such pleasure, but now I know it doesn't matter so much how or where you find it - as long as you do. And I am incredibly grateful that I find it at all when so many people don't.

Some examples of what makes me smile - 

* How the little solar flower on the corner of my desk bops along merrily in the light from the window. 

* Pretty much anything Minion related. (The costumes/characters in the Despicable Me Minion Rush game crack me up.)

* The little notes my husband leaves for me. I never know where or when I'm going to find one, but I smile - and sometimes laugh out loud at what he wrote - every single time I come across one. 

* When Larry soaks in the "spa" (aka, the water dish.) You have never seen a critter so content.

Where in the nooks and crannies of your life do you find your joy? What odd little things make you smile? Let's pay attention to them this week, and let's look for some new ones while we're at it.

Recommended Reading - February 2014

It was an awesome month for reading, as you'll see from the Standouts below. And I've decided, since I'm coming across so many great books, to scrap the monthly Recommended Reading posts and just write mini book reviews here whenever I read something I love. I will no longer have to wait to rave about a book! And you will no longer have to wait to add a great read to your TBR list. (Don't grumble about how big that TBR pile is already. You know you love adding to it!)

*****

Books Read in February: 9

Total Books Read in 2014:  15

Standouts:

Fear Nothing by Lisa Gardner - Lisa Gardner is one of my go-to authors for suspense/thrillers. I know that when she has a new book out, I'd better set aside some time because I will be hooked - forget cleaning, forget cooking, my husband and the tortoises are on their own. This particular novel has a fascinating character who has a genetic condition that causes her to feel no pain, and Gardner is excellent at feeding the reader information without lecturing. And although the character of Boston Detective D. D. Warren is a recurring character, the novels work as stand-alones. Next time you're in the mood for suspense, go find one of Gardner's novels. You'll be glad you did. 

*****

You've Got a Book In You: A Stress-Free Guide to Writing the Book of Your Dreams by Elizabeth Sims - Yes, I know. Most of us need another book on the writing craft like we need another empty notebook, another mug of coffee, another rejection. But this book's subtitle - "a stress-free guide" - is absolutely true. This is a fresh reminder of how much fun writing can be, if we'll only let it. (I actually met Ms. Sims once or twice, and her enthusiasm for writing is absolutely evident.)

***** 

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh - What really drew me into this novel was the voice - atmospheric without being heavy-handed, dark and foreboding yet subtle. It is a mystery and a love story, and a very good reminder of how secrets can dig deep and take root in the fertile grounds of family dynamics.

* I received an ARC though a Random House giveaway. This novel will be available March 2014. *

*****

Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #2) by Laini Taylor - If you haven't yet read Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #1, then do so. Now. Go wander the streets of Prague with Karou and Zuzana and Mik. Meet Brimstone and Issa and Thiago, Madrigal and Akiva and Razgut (who is one of the creepiest characters I've ever met.) Then read Days... where the story continues, where love and war and friendship and sacrifice are all layered and complicated and complex and the usual definitions of monsters and angels are frayed and unravelling right before your eyes. Then…wait with me until April for Dreams of Gods and Monsters (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #3). Arrrrrgh!

*****

What have you read and loved recently? Have you read any of the Standouts? Do you plan to? I hope so!

Motivational Monday

YOU ARE NOT A BEGGAR 

AT THE

BANQUET OF PUBLISHING.

(Janet Reid)

We have every right to sit at that table. Our invitation is our desire to tell stories, our passion to write them, our desire to learn and to grow in our craft.

We need to stop ducking our heads, cowering, mumbling apologies for our "lack of success." We show up at the page, day after day, and that alone takes courage, that alone is more than most people do. Be proud!

Let's keep putting in the time, the energy, the blood, sweat, and tears necessary to be the best writers we can be. Let's pull up our chairs and feast with the best of them. We can't, we won't, let anyone turn us away. 

Motivational Monday

TALENT IS CHEAP;

DEDICATION IS EXPENSIVE.

IT WILL COST YOU YOUR LIFE.

(Irving Stone)

I've lost track of the number of people who told me I couldn't be a writer. Or that I couldn't make a living at it. Or that it would make a nice hobby. Some people, whose doubt came from worry, were well meaning. Others, not so much.

I've made a choice to put my writing first. My husband supports me - in a number of ways - in that decision. Some people don't understand it. Others don't like it. But I often think these are the same people who don't know what it feels like to truly dedicate yourself to something, to have something you're passionate about, something so important to you that it simmers inside of you constantly.

And even though I don't make a living from writing, I wouldn't have a life, my life, without it. 

This week, let's re-dedicate ourselves to our writing or to whatever it is we're passionate about. Focus! Stay on task. Let's live our dreams and our passions.

(I'm taking a bit of a blogging break this week. I'll pop in and out visiting all of you and checking in here, but this will most likely be my only post this week. Have a good one!)

The Stakeout - Every Day Fiction

What do Valentine's Day, a "stalker" who leaves candy, and two older women with walkie-talkies have in common?

They all appear in my story, "The Stakeout," over at Every Day Fiction.

I really hope you enjoy it, and I wish you all a Valentine's Day full of love, laughs and friendship.

Motivational Monday and Moonless Blogfest

I DON'T REGRET A SINGLE BROKEN HEART

THAT TAUGHT ME WHAT LOVE WAS AND WHAT IT'S NOT

SOMEONE MUST HAVE PLANNED OUR TWO PATHS WOULD CROSS

I COULDN'T SEE IT THEN BUT I WAS NEVER LOST

'CAUSE ALL MY ROADS HAVE LED ME TO 

THIS NIGHT, THIS LOVE I SHARE WITH YOU

AND THOUGH THE ROAD WAS NEVER SMOOTH

LIFE HAS MADE ME SOMEONE WHO COULD BE THE RIGHT SOMEONE FOR YOU

(Collin Raye)

For Crystal Collier's Moonless Book Release Blogfest, we're answering the question: if you lived in a society with arranged marriages, whom would you want your parents to set you up with and why? (Literary characters and celebrities welcomed!)

Well, I'm going to cheat a bit here - my husband and I met our first day of college, when we were trying to get out of taking the math and science class requirement. (To this day, please don't ask us anything math or science-related!) We became good friends and stayed that way all through college. My mother lamented the fact he had a girlfriend. His mother always liked me. Life went on. He broke up with his girlfriend. I had a boyfriend. More life. Then, during our last semester of college, we were both free, and what we found was…each other. 

We'll be married for fifteen years this spring, but we'll have been friends for way longer than that. So, while our marriage wasn't arranged, I can't help but wonder if our mothers didn't have some sort of maternal sixth sense from the beginning….   

The quote above are lyrics from our wedding song - Collin Raye's All My Roads - and truer words were never sung. We really just never know where our lives, our roads, will take us. Let's have faith that we'll end up just where we're meant to be.  

*****