I Am Here to Encourage You

Unless you don't want me to in which case whatever just delete this

Maybe I am in a dissociative bliss.*

Dear Readers,

I just don’t feel like being bleak. It is not that I think I should ignore the very real and present dangers to the world. I am doing my best not to ignore them. I do not want to become a low information voter! OR HUMAN! But I am also trying not to surrender beauty and joy if I don’t have to. I don’t want to! I remember people with far less got far more done than me. I want to keep on moving.

Anyway, something I leaned hard on in the past when times were tough was Beth Pickens’ Your Art Will Save Your Life. I know I am a loud (literally and figuratively) voice online yelling about all kinds of art being worthwhile and important to both create and consume, but it’s also true that when things are bleak I can fall into the easy trap of BUT I JUST WRITE ROMANCE NOVELS AND WHEN THE WORLD IS FALLING APART IS THIS THE BEST USE OF MY TIME.

Anyway, Beth Pickens has shared a bunch of her resources on her web site for free! Please enjoy as I have!

There is so much self-promo to come from me in future emails, but I just wanted to let all of you know that I am teaching my romance writing class again, through Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena! This class is truly a joy to teach, and if you’re interested in writing romance, have stalled out on a romance project, have always thought about writing romance and want a kickstart, etc., this class is for you. It does always sell out so if you’re interested I urge you to register!

I have been revising my next novel and that has been where a lot of my freeform stress migrates when I have spare time. In some ways this is probably healthier (and more actionable) than the state of the world, the incoming administration, etc., but it can be strangely isolating to have so many of one’s problems revolve around the matters of a fictional world they themselves created.

I actually have gotten more notes on this book than usual for a variety of reasons I will tell you about later (or not, it’s not very interesting probably, I’m not holding out a stunner of a reveal from you), and I will say that it reminds me a lot of my earlier years writing, pre-agent, pre-book deals, when the only guidance I had came from within and from critique partners. I’m sort of stunned to realize this but I hadn’t fully understood that moving forward in my career since then had changed my process as much as it had.