What’s New in ’22 … Delsora Lowe

For me, it is not what’s new for the new year, but what I will recycle and make new in 2022.

I’ll admit, 2021 was not the most productive year I’ve had. Between trying to figure out how to live a normal life, in a crazy situation, and then experiencing many life-changing situations, both sad and happy, I had difficulty making my goals that I set out for myself last year.

For 2022, I’ve brought forward all that I planned and was excited about in 2021, in hopes of accomplishing them in 2022. That list includes both professional and personal goals. For several years I have had on my list to join a local, non-profit organization that provides a meeting place and a list of activities for both teens and retirees. Last spring, I finally joined. The activities that interested me most were exercise classes, various art classes, and a writing group. Did I do any of them? 

A BIG FAT NO!

So, what’s new for ’22, is to get myself out of the house, with mask in place, and get to exercise class two days a week, join the writing group, and explore some art classes that will definitely take me out of my comfort zone. My sister was an artist. My grandmother was a juried craftswoman, mostly in painting on tins and velvets. My grandfather dabbled in painting, as did my mom. My daughter is an interior designer and a floral designer. Me? I loved art when I was in school, and I took craft classes as an adult and loved rug braiding, pottery, knitting, etc. But I never pursued any of them beyond the adult education classes I took.

2022—here I come.  Time to get out of my comfort zone and learn a new craft. If only, because it will challenge my creativity in a different way than writing. And by doing so, my hope is to jumpstart my writing,

I’m convinced that if I can activate my creative brain in other areas beside writing, that I might jumpstart my writing creativity, as well. In other words, allow the light of creativity to shine through once more.

“It is the light in the lantern which shows you the path,
 not the lantern.”
from a Yogi Tea Bag

And that leads me to what I love…writing. Alas, 2021 was a bad year for me. I totally shut down. I missed most of my goals I set for myself at the end of 2020, and I beat myself up over it. But hey…as I write this, we are in the last few weeks in December and all of a sudden, my creative juices are flowing through my brain and into my fingers. Time to take advantage, pull all my 2021 goals forward, and kick up a dance of creativity (both physical and mental) for 2022! And STOP with the I’m a failure self-talk.

The words of encouragement I have chosen to guide me for 2022 are:

Self-Forgiveness and Looking Forward

What are you going to do to move forward and find something new in ’22?

~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet and spicy romances and contemporary westerns from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine.

Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine. Her new novella, The Love Left Behind, will release in late fall, 2020.

Social Media Links:
Author website: www.delsoralowe.com
Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/delsoraloweauthor/community/
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Delsora-Lowe/e/B01M61OM39/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Books2Read Author page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe
BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delsora-lowe-93c6987f-129d-483d-9f5a-abe603876518
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe
Instagram: #delsoralowe / https://www.instagram.com/delsoralowe/

Credits:
2022 Words Meme: Image from CANVA
Reuse in-box: Displaying 19 Images For Reduce Reuse Recycle Symbol Clip Art #v3CeAZ - Clipart Suggest
Goals Clothesline: free clipart goals - Google Search
Exercise: Free Exercise Cliparts, Download Free Exercise Cliparts png images, Free ClipArts on Clipart Library (clipart-library.com)
Writers Block: writer-s-block-words-road-construction-barrier-barricade-sign-stopping-you-making-progress-writing-novel-article-40955648
Raising a Glass: Raising A Toast Stock Illustrations, Cliparts And Royalty Free Raising A Toast Vectors (123rf.com)
Michelle Obama
Nelson Mandela

Spring (eventually) Overcomes Writer's Block by Sarah Raplee

 

I never understood what it was like to have writer’s block until a couple years ago when my family was faced with a series of unfortunate events. We learned our forty-seven-year-old daughter and her husband were addicted to opioids and meth about the same time my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Dementia.

My mother and my daughter lost their grips on reality over the next few months. Mom moved into a top-notch memory care facility and died of heart failure three months later. My daughter broke into our house multiple times because of her delusions and hallucinations. She refused to get help and became homeless and dangerous as their lives unraveled. We had to get a restraining order and learn the cold, hard truth: there is nothing we can do unless she wants help. She believes she is sane and everyone who tries to help her is insane.

Thank God for NarAnon and for our therapist. We learned about processing grief, the horrible disease of addiction, detachment and letting go. But the grief resurfaces in nightmares, crazy texts or on icy winter nights.

We got hit with the pandemic, which has hospitalized and killed people I know. We evacuated due to wildfires. American citizens stormed the Capitol and some of them attacked police and threatened lawmakers and the Vice-President. Recently an ice storm forced us out again.

I’ve struggled with writer’s block through all of this. Just surviving has been all I can manage.

And yet…Spring arrived this year, and I find myself enjoying the daffodils, the birdsongs, the antics of our new puppy, spending time with my ten-year-old granddaughter and writing stories in my head again. 

Spring reminds me that life goes on, life is good and I am blessed.

Have you suffered from writer's block?  Please share your experience in a comment.  ~Sarah  

Silencing Your Inner Editor

I often struggle with silencing my internal editor. The little voice that provides a running commentary on everything I’m doing wrong with my writing. Of course, that little voice can be helpful in small, controlled doses when I’ve transferred my ideas to the page and am ready to refine them. But during the creative process, all it does is feed my doubts and block creativity until my characters stop talking to me.

Ever stared at a blank screen, the cursor taunting you with its incessant blinking, and felt paralyzed? What is so scary about that blank page? Often we have more ideas than time to work on them, so why can it be so difficult to get them from head to paper (or computer)? For me, it’s the fear of failure. The ideas seem so perfect in my head, and I want to do them justice, so I put a lot of pressure of myself. Now, when this happens I simply remind myself of the following advice that many writers would have heard time and again.

‘You can fix a bad page, but you can’t fix a blank one’

We waste a lot of energy talking ourselves out of writing because it might not be perfect. Why not refocus that energy into putting words to paper as they come. We can go back and ‘fix’ anything we’re not happy with later.

These fears can often continue throughout the writing process. Rather than taking off with an idea and letting the words flow onto the page, I find myself critiquing each paragraph, sentence or word, as I go along. I’ve even been known to stop mid-sentence searching for the ‘perfect’ word to describe something as inane as the color of the dirt on a character’s shoe.  Thankfully, I’ve been able to work on that bad habit, and rather than dwelling on something so small, I will move on, or alternatively, place a small note to come back to during the editing stage.

It’s important to remember that a first draft isn’t meant to be perfect. It’s a way to let your creativity flow; to find your voice and let your ideas run wild. Once you’ve let all of that creativity out and have something to build on, you can go back and edit.

The next trick is being kind to yourself. Your inner critic will judge you and tear you apart... but if you find something you’ve written is just ‘rubbish’, have a laugh and try again. I’m sure even the most successful writers out there have cringe-worthy moments when reading over their initial drafts. It’s all part of the process.

Here are some tips to help you turn off that internal editor:

No editing: Put a ban on editing of any kind. This can be as simple as not being allowed to read over what you’ve written, or to be even more extreme, stop yourself from using the ‘backspace’ button at all. If you’ve made a typo it can be fixed later.

Set goals: Even if you have limited writing time, aim high. This is the idea behind the popular NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Participants need to complete 50,000 words in one month. It’s a big ask, and meeting that goal requires non-stop writing during precious writing time. For most people there’s no time to edit, therefore the words, and creativity, flows. 

Use a productivity app: Programs such as ‘Write or Die’ where you can set goals around word counts or time limits are extremely helpful. 

If you couldn’t possibly fathom writing an entire story without editing, then restrict it to one chapter at a time, or if that still causes heart palpitations, cut that back to one scene. C’mon, I know you can get through one scene without editing!

Many of these apps will also stop you from accessing the internet for a set amount of time - no more being distracted by social media.

Plan: This will be hard for my fellow ‘pantsers’, but it’s worth trying. Have a rough plan for your story. Sometimes, the more detailed, the better. I find if I have scenes planned out at certain points of the story, even if it’s just the overall objective of a scene (e.g. Show the development of trust between hero and heroine), it helps keep momentum. Stalling, or becoming ‘blocked’, is like holding up a ‘welcome’ sign to my internal editor. I must keep moving.

Note: Pantser = A novelist who writes by the Seat of their Pants, not taking time to plot the novel before beginning to write.

Try something different: If your self-control has disappeared and you absolutely cannot stop yourself from editing, it’s time to turn off the computer and try something else. Why not grab a pen and paper? Rewriting and amending the same sentence ten times suddenly becomes more difficult. Another alternative is to dictate your story. You don’t even need a Dictaphone. Most smart phones have a voice record/memo facility. Just hit record and start talking. No editing here. That can wait for when you transcribe it all later.

Hopefully some of these tips will help you let go of the fear and set your creativity free.

Lauren James is a country girl at heart. Raised on a small property surrounded by animals, it's no surprise she writes small town romance with lots of love for creatures great and small.

Having failed fabulously at painting, sewing and playing guitar, she finally found her creative outlet in writing strong, quirky heroines, and tough, handsome heroes with gooey animal-loving centers.

Lauren lives on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia, with her beloved rescue greyhound, Daisy.

You can contact Lauren via her website, Facebook or Twitter.

HELP! I Need HEAs To Beat SAD!

Hi everyone! I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 

For the first time ever, I am dealing with a severe case of bloggers block here at Romancing the Genres. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is entering my fogged brain.

I know this is supposed to be the happy time of the year. I should be decking halls, spending all my money and preparing for a family get-together. But this has simply not been a normal season, in any sense of the word normal. The world has become a scary place. Add in that I suffer from that winter curse known as Seasonal Affective Disorder or

As a result, during the long nights of winter I function on half cylinders, at best. Trust my, I have one of those lights. In addition, I am taking anti-depressants this year for the first time. Thus I really am in better shape than I find myself most winters. I can tell there is a difference, my mood is not catastrophic. But it's still bad. I'll be a poor performer until at least March.

I absolutely understand the allure of a good holiday related romance this time of year. Especially for those in the Midwest of the US like me, where snow is already piling high and a good fireplace is almost a survival necessity in winter. And nothing goes better with a fireplace than a glass of wine and an story with a Happily Ever After.

I'm using this all too short blog post to ask readers for their help. Usually I mention some of my favorite reads here. This time, I ask you guys to name some of your favorite holiday reads for someone who is only looking forward to the winter solstice - turnaround day, when days begin growing longer. This is the time of year when numerous people of various faiths hold holidays and festivals.

I could use some recommendations of books for the holidays.  I bet some of you readers could use some additions too.  So I'm hoping people will put some of their favorite holiday reads in the comments. I could use some recommendations I can use to help dispel my depression. An HEA, or even a HFN would go far to help me make it through the long nights of December and January.

Love, a very hopeful B A Binns

I’m All Out of Love

Hello Loyal Readers J Thank you for stopping by.  I am Terri Molina, multicultural romantic suspense author. In other words, my characters and settings take place in border towns along the gulf coast of Texas.

For the past year I’ve been in a bit of a funk….and if you read last month’s post, you’ll understand why. And as if that’s not bad enough, I’ve also been hit with a debilitating case of writer’s block. The events of last year really built up a wall on my creativity and writing is becoming more like a chore than something I enjoy doing. Even writing this blog is drawing a blank….and I was given a theme!

As you can tell, writer’s block is frustrating. Over the years (because it’s not the first time I’ve dealt with it) I’ve tried to figure out ways to curb it. Like with any syndrome, I did a lot of research on the best way to deal with it and of course many of the answers were obvious:

• Read more books
• Watch movies
• Take a long bath
• Go for a walk
• Take a road trip

So, because I’ve done these a time or two hundred, I decided to ask my friends for advice and see what it is that keep them at the computer day in and day out. 

 

Question:  How would you define writer’s block and what do you do to overcome it?

 

Robert Gregory Browne, bestselling author, former screenwriter

• Well, I don't believe in it. Never had it. My feelings is that you simply have to sit down and write, no matter how bad you might think it is. Just put words on your screen. Sooner or later they'll start to make sense.
   
  Toni McGee Causey, best-selling author of the Bobby Faye novels.
• I agree with Rob. If a writer is feeling blocked, then the issue is often not what they're writing, or trying to write, right at that moment, but choices they've made earlier that aren't resonating with their subconscious. Writer's block is (to me) simply the subconscious's way of saying, 'hey, you, you're missing an opportunity over here.' Often, the answer isn't obvious (hence, the feeling of being blocked), but if you sit down and write out all of the wrong stuff, the terrible stuff, you clear the logjam and the good stuff can start flowing again. You just have to give yourself permission to write all the crappy stuff first without worrying about whether it's good or not. It's probably not good. That's the point. Get it out of the way and then the stuff that's been percolating below the surface, the wild "what ifs?" will rise and give you the twists and inspiration you'd been looking for all along.
  
  There can be other emotional issues that swamp a writer--bad health, death of a loved one, etc. These things can slow some writers down and that's just life. In these cases, you have to just recognize it for what it is and give yourself time to be human, and then sit down, even when you don't feel like it, and write anyway. The words will come, in spite of how awful life may have gotten.
   
  Karin Tabke; National bestselling, award-winning author
• Right there with Rob and Toni. 'writer's block' for me is when something is wrong with my story and my subconscious is refusing to go forward with what it knows is wrong. I can sit there and stare for days at a flashing cursor, but it isn't until I start to write, even free writing that my thoughts loosen up. some days it's sheer will power to get words down. but I also give myself permission to let the crazy go when nothing else seems to be working. b/c sometimes there are some gold nuggets in the crazy.
  Allison Brennan; NYT Bestselling author
• What Toni said. When I get stuck, I re read what I have and most of the time find where I derailed.
   
   
  Sage advice from some of the best in the biz.  They are who encourage me to keep my butt in chair.  And that’s why I love them. J 
   
  I know the writer’s block is a state of mind….that fear of failure thing. And I know, the best way to get over it, is to just get out of my own head.  There are just some days, I need more convincing.
   

The 2 AM Art of Writing

When people ask where I get my ideas for a story my quick answer is I channel them from somewhere in my subconscious. I believe this because I get these 2 AM wake up calls with story ideas and whole outlines ready to go. The trick is getting it all down on paper before the inspiration passes. This happens to me all the time and I have a notebook filled with early morning musings to prove it. Once the idea and basic outline is on paper, I fall easily back to sleep.

The next day, I take a look at this “great revelation” and see if it can stand the scrutiny of the morning. If I still find the idea excites me then I will work on the outline, do a bit of research and then decide whether or not to move forward.

Oftentimes, I’m in the middle of another novel or project when these little brain storms drop their rain of inspiration, so I can’t start on them right away. So they will sit in my notebook, awaiting their turn at greatness. What this means is I always have a story or two waiting to be fleshed out. For me the biggest challenge is controlling that urge to abandon the current work for this new and exciting something! If I did this, nothing would ever get finished.

For example, I’m writing a new series of erotic romantic comedies. I finished the first book in the series and have just started book two, when suddenly the edits have arrived for book one. My love for my current project is so strong, that it takes great discipline to put book two characters on the shelf while I tidy up what was written months ago.

My biggest challenge is too many ideas, not enough time. Do you struggle with finding new ideas or with keeping on track with multiple projects?

All About Choices

When I’m stuck in a loop on one of my ideas (some people call it writer’s block) it’s often because my characters refuse to do what I require. Something in their world is just not quite right. They are missing a motivation, or a skill, or an item that would make things flow again.

At one point in Botanicaust, my characters faced yet another “flight from the bad guys.” I wrote it. And re-wrote it. Ho hum. The two of them had escaped before. They’d do it again. There was no growth or movement. It was just a plot moment, and I want my scenes to always do more.

I watched some TV. Played a game. I even actually cleaned my house.
What if my characters didn’t escape, after all? What if they died? What if I had to introduce something fundamental in this scene that needed to be included in further scenes? So I watched another movie. Ate some chocolate. Sulked.

Would this scene even work in this story? They had to get away from the bad guys, of course. But what would make the reader anxious they might not succeed?

The scene needed more tension. Higher stakes.

So I started asking questions. What would my hero value enough to raise the stakes? What if he had to choose who to save? And who, besides the heroine, would he consider gut-wrenching to lose?

Kids. There were children in the manuscript earlier I’d conveniently written out, and I realized I still needed them. My main character needed more people to protect, people he had to make choices between.

So I reintroduced the children, and they played a major role in the rest of the manuscript. Not only that, but they have become the main characters of my next book in the Botanicaust world.

If I had skipped the flight scene, I would not have enriched the rest of the story with these characters. Or I would have been forced to squeeze them into later scenes for continuity, and it would have felt unnatural. This scene with the children became one of my favorite sections in the whole book.

Do you have a favorite character moment you’ve read or written recently?
© Tam Linsey, 2011. All rights reserved.