Confidence...

It's funny how shaky a thing like confidence is. I know grammar. I mean I really know grammar, yet doing some line edits, I am always questioning myself. The slightest remark can send my confidence spiraling. I know I shouldn't give others such power over me, but the thing is they don't know. My favorite motto is "Fake it, til you make it." When I tell people that I'm shy and have little confidence, they snort and tell me they don't believe it. That's because I ACT like I have so much confidence. It really doesn't hurt to act confident, and the surprising thing is that often the confidence will follow.
So I'm at this point where I'm questioning my abilities, which is dumb because I really do know what I am doing, but the confidence is slipping away.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Last Night at the Halfmoon by Kate Austin
McKettrick's Luck by Linda Lael Miller

It's ALIVE...

The thing about characters is that they take on a life of their own. My secondary characters start becoming more and more powerful and pretty soon I am enjoying writing their stories almost more than my hero and heroine's. I have in fact kicked a character off the island--literally; it was my pirate book--because she was taking over the novel. Right now I have created five characters who are so much fun to write, I look forward to my time in front of the screen. But more than that, they talk to me. I see them. I hear their accents, I listen to their speeches, I feel their emotions. With my hero and heroine I sometimes struggle through their story because I have to make it so much richer and deeper, since the story is theirs, but I can just do my secondary characters (if you know what I mean).

Which goes to show just how shallow and superficial I am.
--Gabi

Books I am reading now:
There Goes the Bride by Lori Wilde
The Marriage Bargain by Dianne Perkins
Almost Dead by Lisa Jackson

Platitudes

I hate platitudes. Don't get me wrong. I love quotes from famous authors or individuals. I enjoy learning from their wisdom. Quotes can help elevate my mood or inspire me. But don't give me platitudes. Like: Every day is a new beginning. Or: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Platitudes are empty, useless, trite phrases that make my skin crawl. You'll find them on plaques at craft shows. I hate cutsie things.

So why the rant? Lately it seems I've been surrounded by platitudes. I won't live my life by them, so stop throwing them at me. Give me credit for a brain and creativity. I come up with my own rules.
--Gabi

Books I'm reading now:
Beware a Scots Revenge by Sabrina Jeffries
There Goes the Bride by Lori Wilde
And still Harry Pottering along.

Brainstorming...

...an appropriate title for this blog, since not only did I brainstorm this evening, it is now also storming. Yes, it's monsoon season in New Mexico, and we have the most gorgeous thunderstorms in the summer.

But back to brainstorming. I've forgotten how much fun it was just to sit with a friend and throw ideas out to each other. I've done it before with my husband. I was having trouble with the plot of my third novel, so I asked him to brainstorm with me. We picked up the ping pong paddles and just hit the ball back and forth while we spoke. Here is a truth: often if you do something physical (even if it is puny like hitting a ping pong ball back and forth) it can free your creativity. Within a few minutes, I had cleared up the plotting problem and was able to finish the novel very soon after (No, not that day but within a couple of weeks.).

I sometimes let my students build with building blocks without telling them the purpose of the building. For the most part they laugh and think it is a childish exercise. After all, they haven't played with blocks since they were babies. But after letting them build for about fifteen minutes, I then ask them to write for fifteen minutes. They are always surprised at how easily the writing comes after playing with blocks.

Just goes to show you: Don't be afraid to play.

Anyway, I brainstormed the rest of my wip (work-in-progress, remember?) with a critique partner, so now I know where the rest of the novel is going. She helped me find the major plot point I needed to get to the end. And I have several ideas for the other two books in the series. Did I tell you my wip is the first in a three book series?

--Gabi, enjoying the thunder, lightning, and rain

Books I'm reading now:
The Spy Wore Silk by Andrea Pickens
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
Taming Him (anthology) from Ellora's Cave