Self-Care for the Writer:

Authors tend to treat their bodies as something that carries their head around. We are then surprised when our body revolts with nerve pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, headaches, dry eyes - really, do I need to go on with the number of things that can hurt?

I've written articles on ergonomics (here in particular). This collection of links goes beyond basic good ergo and into the realm of feeling pleasure in your body.

There are an incredible number of suggestions on the web. Here are some of the best.

1. From Raleigh Psychology, here is the most basic List of Pleasant Activities. These ideas are great place to start with doing really cool things.

2. Stanford has a really nice list of small things and ways to score them. This worksheet is more for a clinician's use, but I found the commentary really interesting! It sounds a bit academic, naturally. It is from Stanford, not a place known for their kicky and quirky writing.

3. It's super easy to think of Self-Care as being something to support our productivity. As Admiral Ackbar says, "It's a trap!" Self-Care is a worthy thing in itself.

My personal happiness did not seem like a grand priority. However, now I know that emotional well-being is fundamental to health and stability in general.

Check out this link from www.TheBodyIsNotAnApology.com And don't you love that blog title!?

4. If you are an activist, check out these Self Care Tips from Everyday Feminism!

Why I write romance.

I come from a family of irritating overachievers. My father (Dr. Dad) has a Ph.D. My older brother (Dr. Bro) has a PhD and two post-doctoral degrees. Dr. Sister had a PhD (of course) and full tenure at a prestigious private collage.

My Mom had a Master's degree. My step-mother has a Master's as well. 

I'm the black sheep. I stopped after two Master's degrees (BA and MA in history, specializing in international relationships between Safavid Persia and Europe, and a MS in Library and Information Science).

So what called me to fiction?

Yes, we have silly covers.

Especially to romance, the most denigrated of genres? And even worse, what drives me to write sexually explicit novels? It would be much more comfortable to write something respectable, like literary novels.

This is why.

Romance is the most important genre of all fiction.

Our covers might be silly, but they beat this bullshit.

In romance novels, a woman will have an adventure, be she a kick-ass, special-ops sort or a sheltered Regency debutant. She will not be sacrificed to further a man's story (Women in Refrigerators, anyone?) 

What about the loss of this fabulous character in Skyfall?

The world hinges on sexual politics. Romance is also the only genre that creates a new framework the most deadly of all adventures for women - that of an intimate relationship with a man.

Romance is the only genre where a woman will live all the way through the story and have an arc of her own. It is the only genre will the woman will win.

No other popular media takes on the fundamental fear of half of the world's population. It is a brave genre filled with brave characters and brave writers.
 

And that is why I write romance.