Okay so it looks like I fell off the planet. Promise - I'm still here. The last four years have been ... hard. There's no other word for it. Everything is fine. I'm fine, but I've been the caregiver of my mom who has Dementia. Between her needs, work, etc I seem to have lost control of my time. I am still writing and am trying hard to get back to my blog.

In case you weren't aware Phaze and HSWF which where under the Mundania Umbrella have closed. I was smart enough to get my titles back before all this happened. I'm happy to say the three books I sold to HSWF have been picked up by Melange Books and are available through their Satin Books imprint. I have even sold a new title to them called Magical Quest due out in 2022

I have also been lucky enough to find a publisher for my Vespian Way series. I'm now with Blushing Books under the name of Bethany Drake. I have five titles out with them right now and am close to submitting two more. There's Desire's Destiny, Desire's Duty and Desire's Promise. Then there is two in my werewolf series, Tears of the Queen and Legend of the Tears. I have just finished the rough draft of the third book in the series and have plans for a fourth one the moment I submit it.

I'll probably still be sporadic here on the blog. Unless I win the lottery and can hire someone to help me I can't avoid it, but know I'm still here still working hard in the background and am hoping to do better at keeping my blog alive.

Barb:)



Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Writing Down the Bones: Writer's Block

So you're writing along. The words are flowing and then all the sudden you hit a brick wall. Not literally, but mentally. The words stop coming. You sit in front of your computer and find it hard to string two words together. The computer stares back, blank, empty. What do you do?

There are several ways to try to get the creative juices to flow again.

Try to sit and write for fifteen minutes a day. Even if all you get out is a sentence that you ended up erasing you did write.

You can try working on something else. Sometimes it's another story, sometimes it's gardening. I work through scene ideas while I'm merchandising, but I have the kind of job that involves a lot of busy work so I can free my mind and let it go do what it needs to do and I have been caught talking out loud to myself because of it. Thank goodness for Bluetooth, if no one is paying any attention they think I'm on the phone.

If you use the computer all the time then grab a pen and paper and try that. If you use pen and paper then transfer it to your writing program, try writing on in that program. If you write at a desk try sitting outside, or in a comfortable chair. If you write in silence try listening to music. I write while the TV is on. I'm able to drown it out as background noise.

Try free writing. If you can't think of anything dealing with your WIP write whatever you want. It might help steer you back to the story that has stymied you.

You could try to visualize what you are trying to write. Sometimes that helps. With all the different social medias I'd try one like Pinerest. Some of the images I see are awe inspiring. Maybe the pictures there will help get your creative juices flowing. Other authors post pictures of their characters, clothing they might wear, rooms or locations where their scenes might happen. You could do the same thing and it might help to get the words to flow again.

There is only one thing I can say about writing, don't ever give up. There times when you find it hard to put one word after the other. Just about every author has had that happen to them, but we work through it. You will too.

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