Writing Mentors

Recently, I had lunch with an old writing buddy I hadn't seen in a long, long time (Michael).  It was invigorating to touch base with him and find out where his writing life had led him.  In truth, his writing life had literally stopped--an ending of the Muse, he said.  He no longer heard her calling his name and no longer felt compelled to write stories.

At first, I was saddened because in my case the Muses hadn't stopped calling my name. I write every single day, because, as my BFF Sheila always says, I can't not write.  But then I realized that some writers hold the title of being mentors to others. I suddenly remembered that during my years in the writing workshop with Michael, he always made great suggestions about what I wrote.  And listening to his own pieces of writing, I became a better writer.  Perhaps, that's why he stayed in my life such a short span of years. He had something to give, and I had something to receive. And when we each got what we needed, our lives drifted apart.

During our lunch, I said as much to him and he agreed totally with me, except that he said thanks to Sheila and me, his life had matured--by writing his "Will" stories and hearing our critiques.  He had matured as a person and then, after the demise of the workshop, he had found a new artistic calling, namely, woodworking. As I listened to how passionate he is over his ability to shape wood into something rare and beautiful, I realized once more that people go in an out of our lives for all different reasons. That we are all between two worlds.  Astral-Human, Teacher-Student, Writing-Woodworking. It doesn't matter what the calling is; the only thing that matters is we answer the call.

When lunch was over, we wished each other the best that life has to offer.  We also agreed that neither of had any idea why we had found each other again after such a long span of silence. I think it's because both of us needed a way for our souls to gauge how far we had come in fulfilling our dreams. And now that we see how far we've traveled, and are grateful, it's time for us to keep moving forward. I think that brief two hour lunch proved that trying to live in the past serves no purpose. We must always keep moving forward.  Even if we have to leave a treasured friend behind.

A New Year of Finding Romance

We're two days into the New Year and I'm already waxing philosophic about reading and writing paranormal romance books.  "Off with the old, on with the new". That's the mantra my mind keeps playing like a broken record. So, what is the old I need to get rid of? Nothing, I can see at this point. I finished writing my second novel, The Sacred Circle, in November of 2013, and it's sitting on the Amazon.com shelf ready for downloads and reviews. And I've read some spicy, sexy romance books this year as well. So, the old has already moved out of my world into the great Beyond. That leaves only one question to answer: What's the new I need to put on? Duh! It can't be anything else but writing another book filled love and romance.

In terms of yearly writing goals, I have one and only one every year:  to write an entertaining story that people will love. It doesn't matter what the subject matter is.  It can be supernatural or just plain modern-day. As long as I can take the reader into a world they've never been to, and have them meet characters to root for (or hate)--well, that's total euphoria for a romance junkie like me.

Hunky Heros. Feisty Heroines. That's my criteria for writing a killer romance story.  And of course, lots and lots of sizzling confrontations between the pair as their attraction grows. And then a killer ending with a happily ever after must happen every single time.  Don't we have enough "not so nice" endings out in the real world already? Shouldn't we be able to escape the real world for a few hours and enjoy the escapades of star-crossed lovers as they battle the world and each other? 

I think so, and now that I really think about it, I know that I will be luckiest person in my neighborhood in 2014, for I will be  creating interesting new worlds, fascinating characters to live in that world, and then I will be going to that world for however long it takes to tell their story. At the same time, as an avid reader of romance books, I will be escaping into my fellow writers' worlds.  I'll be enjoying plenty of steamy sex, heated confrontations, jealousy, revenge, and soul searching--all of it ending in a love to last a lifetime. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.