Back to work.

I met with my agent this morning. All I have to do is tidy up my synopsis and we will be ready to start shopping this beauty.

I'll let you all know how it goes. :)

A writing game.

A while ago, Jane Porter spoke at my local RWA chapter, the Rose City Romance Writers.

I'll be honest. Jane's blonde, gorgeous, petite, skinny, and looks about sixteen. I was consumed by envy. Then she gave a brilliantly inspirational speech about where your writing fits in the market.

I was expecting something very business-like, maybe a breakdown of the different publishers and what they tended towards.

Instead, she talked about the roots of your writing- the fables, myths, and fairy tales that consumed you as a child. What could you listen to over and over? What were those themes? What keeps coming up over and over for you?

The fairy tales didn't reveal that much about me, I thought. I picked.

1. The Seven Swans: I chose discipline, faithfulness, and sewing shirts out of flowers (transformation) as the themes I loved about this story.
   


2. Aladdin : Flying, courage, and risk.
   


3. Sleeping Beauty: Disguises, awakening to a new reality, and (what the hell) fairies with personalities.
   

I really flailed with these. No common themes seemed to emerge. Then we went to mythology. I chose:

1. Medea: Revenge, justifiable wrath, a woman who controls her life, a woman who kills, escape
   



2. The Golden Fleece: Powerful allies, justifiable wrath, travel
   



3. The Aenead: Rising from the ashes, travel, new starts
   

I suddenly realized why my attempts at light-hearted romantic comedy failed miserably. I had much darker stories inside of me.

I focused on the story that began, "She swam in an ocean of blood" instead of "Lola blinked." I'm pretty sure we can all tell which first sentence is far more attention grabbing. :)
(That's not the first sentence anymore, by the way ;).

Myths, fables, legends, and fairy tales are our playground. They provide the archetypes, the symbols, and the language for our lives.

Play the game with me. What are the stories that have haunted you? What themes do you carry inside of yourself?

I haz brains nao?

Sorry for the LOLCat speak, but some days just call for it.

Something writers don't usually talk about is that December is a very difficult month to get any work done. It's not only the usual shopping/winter weather/holiday party circuit, either.

There's something about December that makes working a challenge. For some people, it's children being on vacation. For some, it is dealing with the heartbreak and losses of the previous year.

No matter what it is, if you are struggling in December, give yourself some slack. January will soon be here. You will have your rhythm back and the work will flow.