Sizzling Read!

My self-pubbed ebook Men of Action has a 5 Heart Review from Sizzling Hot Book Reviews and is up for Sizzling Read of the Month! You can vote until July 1. It makes me very happy to get the Sizzle for this book, which includes my stories from Passion: Erotic Romance for Women and Mammoth Book of Special Ops Romance, as they include a range of heat levels. And it’s just plain cool to get a chance to put together stories for readers who might have missed either or both in print.

Thanks to Sizzling Hot Books!

Things to do while waiting for a baby to arrive

1. Take long walks. It may or may not help labor progress, but it keeps you from climbing the walls.

2. Clean the house. Again. See above.

3. Bake.

4. Read a book. Unless it’s Waiting for Godot. Or Swimmer in the Secret Sea. Skip those at a time like this.

5. Check the go-to-hospital bag again to make sure you didn’t forget anything.

Food for the creative soul

This weekend we visited the local farmer’s market, which is always interesting. This time around there was a booth full of textile crafts, handmade dolls and all sorts of beautiful things. The sights, sounds, smells, if you don’t get inspired at a local market, your creativity needs life-support. We talked to a local cheesemaker and got a “tour” of the products; I was really intrigued by one cheese that is flavored with truffles but tastes like a hint of garlic. Right next to the cheese was the chocolat (where I averted my eyes), and the baked goods, where we found an incredible loaf of dark rye that would make your eyes roll up in your head if you love the traditional Russian peasant loaf style of bread.

After we got home I had to figure out what to do with the fresh rhubarb so I made a batch of rhubarb bread

While we were out, I noticed a sign that said, “Love people. Feed them.” In a fast food world, maybe we forget to sometimes slow down, think about how cheese is made, imagine ways to use fresh rhubarb before choosing one. Slowing down a little lets us feed all our senses and our creativity. 

I think we need to feed our souls and those of the people we love at every opportunity, not just with food but with experiences. Writing a book can be soul food, and it pays to not try to whip out a white-bread package that could have been produced anywhere, but to let all the local sights, sounds, textures and flavors in to make it a rich and unique whole that reflects who and where it came from. When we write, we’re feeding imaginations. And it starts with feeding our own.

Make virtue of your vices

Or, embrace your process. I’ve come to realize that I’m more creative/productive doing a lot of things. Because if I get stuck on one thing, I switch and keep moving forward. If I’m on one thing and I get stuck…the stuck has a lot of impact on my productivity, and is also discouraging as hell.

Which is why I’ve decided to be okay with writing four books at a time while reading ten.

I’ve also decided it’s okay to have a process that’s a mish-mash of planning and discovery in the moment. Sometimes you have to plan ahead. Sometimes you don’t know how to plan because something hasn’t been discovered yet. This thought brought to you by Candace Haven’s Mozart or Beethoven? post on Genreality. I couldn’t answer the question until I admitted I do it both ways. In the same book. Sometimes a scene is just there, whole-cloth. Sometimes I have to figure it out, one random and disjointed piece at a time.

While I’m at it, I’ve decided it’s also perfectly healthy that I get all cheerful plotting fictional murders and violence.

If you’ve tried to change something about yourself or your process and gotten discouraged, why not just make a virtue of your vices and go with it?