Happy Friday!

I often get asked by readers  "What do you do when you have writers' block?" 

Anything but write!  I go for a long walk, listen to music, watch a good movie, take a bubble bath, have a glass of wine, paint, read. The key is to turn off your left brain. That nasty left side of your brain is the one telling you:

That you must follow all the writing rules
That you must come up with the most fascinating story ever or nobody will read your book
That you must plot out every detail of the story or it won't come out right
That you must use perfect grammar and punctuation and sentence structure
That you must use all the senses and add in deep emotion on every page
...on and on and on

The left side of your brain is the strict school teacher holding a ruler in her hand, ready to strike you should you make a single mistake. It is the rule-following side, the logical, analytical, accountant side. And though it serves its purpose, it should never be consulted during the actual creative aspect of writing a story.  (I consult my left brain during the editing process)

I have found the best way to stop the left brain from taking over and stifling my creativity is to do something extremely creative, hence awakening my right brain and delighting it with fun, imaginative
activities. After awhile my left brain gets bored and goes to sleep, and I can proceed with my writing.  You'd be amazed how many story ideas have been birthed while I'm soaking in a bubble bath.  

If you're not a writer but you engage in creative activities and sometimes you find yourself stumped, this would work equally for you too! 

Writing news

I have 35,000 words written in Charity's Cross. My goal is to finish the first draft by the end of November, the second by the end of December, and then send it to my editor in January. If all goes well, it will release in February!  If you'd like to see the cover and read a summary of the story,  click on COMING SOON at the top of this page. 

The Reckoning will be released in AUDIO version at the end of October!  I'm super excited about this. I've had a chance to listen to the narration and it's excellent and really brings the story to life. More on that later! 

In case you haven't heard, The Ransom won first place in the Inspirational Readers' Choice award and was a runner up in the prestigious Maggie Award.  God is good!


Have a Great Weekend everyone!


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