Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Umph Gone

I tend to post in spurts. Not exactly an attractive thought, but there it is. Today I looked over my blog and realized I hadn't posted since September. Part of me isn't surprised.

My writing slowed to a trickle when my son Z was born in 2008. Now, with the birth of my twin girls in September of 2012, I'm afraid it's ground to a screeching halt. And what I've been thinking lately as I rock a child to sleep, fuss about toys that need to be picked up, corral dogs and worry about what I'm actually going to do in my day job that day; I've realized I miss the writer I knew. I very much feel like I'm no longer that person. She was a separate entity from silly little me with my permanent stress headache, far more gray hair and the worry lines around my eyes and mouth.

Even in the very rare moments of quiet I find I can't write even if the opportunity presents itself. I sit at the computer, maybe edit a page or two of one of the multitude of WIPs saved on my computer and can't find the umph to write. Forget romance. You have to feel romantic, feel loved and respected, feel sexy to write romance. Lately all I feel is tired and embattled.

So for those of you waiting for the next story in the series I had begun to come out, I apologize. There aren't many of you, so somehow I don't think I'll be disappointing many people. Readers have moved on, if there were any. I have the next story all mapped out, know what needs to happen, but right now my hero is sitting in a wheelchair, soaked to the skin and very drunk. My heroine is two rooms away trying to get some much needed peace and quiet while his music pounds away loudly. And they've been there for four years now.

Elyssa Edwards isn't doing much better. Her hero is stuck monitoring juvenile delinquents and she can't quite get him out of the scene.

So we plod onward, making no real progress and hoping and wishing for that magical moment when we'll feel like writing again, when we'll have time. Ah, the slippery slope that has killed many a potential writer's ambitions. But when I think of my former editor's admonition, "Butt in seat, fingers on keys" all I can think of is which fingers? The ones changing the diapers, feeding the baby, stopping the dogs from eating each other or the ones that long to go in my ears as I scream, "Lalalalalalalala" and pretend I can't hear the call of adulthood and responsibility shrieking in my face.

Where Do You Get Your Inspiration?

Where do you find inspiration?

Sometimes as a writer you can move beyond writer's block to just plain blocked. You see, I always think of being blocked in terms of those moments in the midst of writing where you can't seem to figure out what to do. You stall out on a story. Those moments are frustrating and if they persist, sometimes you just have to set the work aside until your characters start talking again.

But writer's block to me means not being able to even start the writing process. Those moments when you want to be writing, when you know you have a few moments but you just sit and stare at that blank document and can't get started. When no inspiration comes at all. It can be one of the worst feelings for anyone, expecially a new writer who doesn't have a notebook full of ideas or notes they want to pursue.

A while back some friends and I designed a sort of Summer Camp for writers. We designed challenges for the purpose of earning badges. The challenges were meant to jumpstart us. It was not only fun, but it was also a very productive summer project for me. I was pretty proud of some of the work that came out of that experience. You can read a very short sample of one of those challenges here on my website. We were challenged to pick a real classified ad and write the story of it. The ad I chose?

Wedding Dress: Beautiful, Beautiful size 12 dress, never worn or altered. Has a sweetheart cut top with beading and beading along the bottom. Also had a detachable train with beading along the edges. Getting married in a few months so I need to sell this one soon. Email or call Bryan.