Writing: A Blessing and A Burden!

 

Alyssa Maxwell

 We plan, and the gods laugh.

 It’s a saying most of us are familiar with and have come up against at various times in our lives. Usually, it’s over minor inconveniences. But for writers, or anyone who works according to their own terms and schedules, it’s a particularly vital concept. It’s not just about getting the work done. When considering a deadline, writers have to factor in time spent plotting and researching, marketing and promoting, but also things like illnesses, emergencies, and other unforeseen events.

 At those times, writing can be both a blessing and a burden. When life spun out of control for me and my family last summer, I spent weeks afterward numb and in a kind of suspended animation. Writing was out of the question. The words on the page didn’t even make sense to me. I had not one but two deadlines approaching, but the drive, creativity, and, most of all, the self-discipline to sit down and write were simply gone. There were times I didn’t think they could ever come back. And there were times when it just didn’t seem important to me anymore. But I needed that time away. It was necessary.

 Luckily for me, my publisher was extremely understanding and accommodating. One deadline was simply put off for another year, and the other extended by a few months. Yet the thought of going back to work loomed over me like impending doom. How would I ever find the concentration to string words together the way I wanted them—needed them—to be for the book I had initially intended to write?

 It was Murder at The Elms, the 11^th book in my Gilded Newport series, a series I started over ten years ago and which has become part of who I am, as a writer and an individual. Anyone who knows me understands the importance Newport has in my life. It was never just a setting, but has always run so much deeper, even long before I knew I would become a writer. So there could be no half-hearted attempt to finish this book, no spouting of words just to fill pages. I had to find a way to be present in the process—to care, to be both subjective and objective, and to be able to put into it the thing I had lost—my heart.

 I’ll tell you how I did it.

 First, I had to seriously ask myself if I wanted to continue to be a writer. Some days, I didn’t have an answer. But on the days when I did, I began, slowly, to turn my mind to the story I had started several months earlier. I allowed it back into my headspace, which also meant shoving aside, even for short periods of time, all those other thoughts that had come to crowd my brain. And I realized that, for those moments, it felt good to be back with my characters. I’m not talking about actively writing. That came a bit later, but just thinking about Emma Cross and the others, and about being in Newport, became a comfort.

 It was not without trepidation that I finally opened the file. At first I only read, starting on page one, to put myself back in the story. Then, finally, I’d write a paragraph or two, and then a page or two. That little bit felt like a breakthrough and an accomplishment. Gradually, and I can’t emphasize that word enough, I worked up to my normal output per day—at least, most days. Some days, I still have to put it aside. That’s ok. Because I had learned that it was still there—the creativity, the drive, and even the self-discipline. And finding that all still alive inside me gave me back a part of my life I could control. I could still lose myself in characters, settings, and plotlines, where justice prevails and good people triumph. Life might and probably will interfere again someday, but now I know unequivocally that writing, being a writer, IS important to me, and that no matter what happens, I’ll always be able to find my way back.

 Bio:

 Alyssa Maxwell, a former nonfiction and fiction editor, knew from an early age that she wanted to be a writer. Growing up in New England and traveling to Great Britain fueled a passion for history, while a love of puzzles and atmospheric literature drew her to the mystery genre. She is the author of The Gilded Newport Mysteries and A Lady and Lady’s Maid Mysteries. She and her husband live in Florida, where she is a member of the Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America and the South Florida Fiction Writers. You can learn more about Alyssa and her books at www.alyssamaxwell.com and connect with her on social media at these links:

https://www.facebook.com/gildednewport

https://www.facebook.com/AlyssaMaxwellauthor/

https://twitter.com/Alyssa__Maxwell

https://www.instagram.com/alyssamaxwellauthor/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7163135.Alyssa_Maxwell

 

Book Blurb:

 Murder at The Elms, A Gilded Newport Mystery #11

Coming August 22, 2023

 As the nineteenth century comes to a close, the illustrious Vanderbilt family dominates Newport, Rhode Island, high society. But when murder arrives, reporter Emma Cross learns that sometimes the actions of the cream of society can curdle one’s blood in the latest installment of this bestselling cozy historical mystery series . . .

1901: Back from their honeymoon in Italy, Emma and Derrick are adapting to married life as they return to their duties at their jointly owned newspaper, the Newport Messenger. The Elms, coal baron Edward Berwind’s newly completed Bellevue Avenue estate, is newsworthy for two reasons: A modern mansion for the new century, it is one of the first homes in America to be wired for electricity with no backup power system, generated by coal from Berwind’s own mines. And their servants—with a single exception—have all gone on strike to protest their working conditions. Summarily dismissing and replacing his staff with cool and callous efficiency, Berwind throws a grand party to showcase the marvels of his new “cottage.”
 
Emma and Derrick are invited to the fete, which culminates not only in a fabulous musicale but an unforeseen tragedy—a chambermaid is found dead in the coal tunnel. In short order, it is also discovered that a guest’s diamond necklace is missing and a laborer has disappeared.
 
Detective Jesse Whyte entreats Emma and Derrick to help with the investigation and determine whether the murdered maid and stolen necklace are connected. As the dark deeds cast a shadow over the blazing mansion, it’s up to Emma to shine a light on the culprit . . .