July 2009
Getting Cozy with Karen.
July Musings
"We cannot choose our external circumstances,
but we can always choose how we respond to them."
~ Epictetus ~
Know what a romance writer's life is truly like? Just ask around. You'll get variations on a theme.
We write in an office the size of a small barn. It contains at least one elegant sofa designed for brainstorming comfort, not to mention the leather-bound executive chair where we cheerfully sit and dash off our word count each morning before heading off to lunch with our eager publisher. We're surrounded by carefully organized, dusted bookshelves displaying our many writing awards, maybe a family photo or two mixed in. Life-sized posters of our heroes, muscular chests gleaming down on us like manna from heaven, hang on our walls providing heroic inspiration.
Maybe there's soft music wafting from speakers cleverly hidden out of sight, while we leisurely pen our tomes on the uncluttered tabletop of our antique cherry wood desk. There's the requisite dog or cat sitting at our feet staring up at us with undemanding adoration, and the kiddies make their own snacks when they come home from school to avoid disturbing Mommy's creative "zone". And, since all authors live in warm climates we can move outside and write poolside while a cabana boy - okay, an understanding significant other - keeps us fed and watered because we'd surely starve or die of thirst without someone to take care of us.
Hmmm, when did I start writing fantasy?
The reality is most authors don't live this beautifully organized, bucolic scene of creativity, much as we may long for a smidgen of it. We're often lucky to have an office. Some of us write at the kitchen table we may have had time to wipe clean of peanut butter. We carve space out of our living rooms, jam a battered desk in the corner, and block out Spongebob's maniacal laughter as he runs through the jellyfish fields with his butterfly net. [That last sounds vaguely familiar!] We pull out a secretary's pad in the lunchroom at our day jobs and jot down a thought or, if we're lucky, a scene before we rush back to work.
We might have book shelves.but dusted? Trade that executive chair for the front seat of a car that carries you and half a dozen ball players to three different fields across town from each other at the same time. And where in hell is that cabana boy when your significant other and kiddies are sitting around the dining room table with empty bellies and expectant expressions on their faces?
I don't know about yours but mine is scrubbing the toilet while I lounge in the gazebo with my laptop eating bon bons. It's so difficult maintaining creativity when the toilet doesn't sparkle, isn't it?
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What is happening in my writing world?
Next month, I am conducting The "W" Plot workshop for the final time this year so I can recoup my writing energies and work on some new workshop material. If you have friends or peers who still want to take the class, please pass on my information so they won't miss out. They can check out my 4-week online workshop at STAR (Southern Tier Authors of Romance, NY) website, STARRWA.ORG. Registration closes July 30th. I also have updated lectures for purchase on my website at http://www.karendocter.com/News.htm.
I've shaken some writing time into my life these past few weeks. I entered my current project in the Colorado Romance Writers Heart of the Rockies Contest. I'll enter a couple more contests in next couple of weeks so I can get a clearer picture of what's working in my novel and what isn't. My goal is to finish KILLING SECRETS by year's end. Wish me luck!
As always, if you'd like to comment on this newsletter or anything else, please feel free to sign into my guest book at the bottom of this page. Looking forward to hearing from you! If you're on MySpace, you can find me at myspace.com/authorkarendocter. If you're on Shelfari, I'd love to be friends and share what we're reading. If you're not and would like to be, contact me at karendocter@yahoo.com. All I need is your email address to invite you. And by all means, if you enjoy reading my newsletter each month, please tell your friends. They can sign up for their own copy easily at the bottom of this column.
See you in August 2009 if you'd like to Get Cozy with Karen again. In the meantime, feel free to check out the rest of my website at your leisure.
I wish you a month overflowing with creativity and confidence. May you realize all of your dreams!
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Articles
Plotting.Beauty or Beast?
First Print - savvyauthors.com blog, June, 2010
Born to Write
Colorado Romance Writers Romance in the Rockies newsletter - February, 2006
The Big Kids Clubhouse Secret Handshake.Finally!
Colorado Romance Writers Romance in the Rockies newsletter - August, 2006
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