Balance.  Yin and Yang.

Contrary to popular myth (especially amongst wanna be writers), a lot of us don't make our living writing full time.  It's our dream and ambition, but not always the reality.  I work full time, a job having nothing to do with creativity or writing. I have a full time relationship, 11 cats, the need for daily exercise, and a love of odd crafts and hobbies, also having nothing to do with writing. I have 8 upcoming books with Ravenous (and oh, I am having so much fun writing them), plus several writing projects of a more unerotic nature.  So I have a strict (most of the time) writing schedule and, as much as I love spontaneity, generally have to plan ahead to fit everything I want/need to do into my life.  It really is all about finding the balance and keeping stress at a minimum.

The cats tend to be involved in most aspects of my life.  Several are very interactive when I exercise.  Yoga is very popular; I think they like showing off their flexibility as their mother struggles to do yet one more Downward Dog.  When I write, I generally have at least one feline on my lap above my laptop.  Sometimes ON my laptop, which leads to cryptic messages such as Q%Rf09u2.  Probably feline for 'we are taking over the world, surrender your opposable thumbs, human!' When I do any sort of crafts...well, I take the wood burner and hot glue gun outside.  Trust me.  It's better that way.

So far I've managed to stay sane and meet my deadlines.  I'm almost enjoying the challenge of juggling it all and staying balanced.  But I am definitely working towards the goal of full time writer.  In the meantime, I will continue to do feline enhanced yoga and enjoy the challenge!

And yes, Lilah...More Mewses.  Any excuse....

Tags: balance | yin yang | writing | yoga | cats

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Okay, I'm totally chuffed right now.  Just saw SUCCUBUSTED is #2 on the Top 10.  I am pleased and proud, considering the high quality of work from all the authors on Ravenous. Mind you, I love my story too...but still, I am doing a happy dance right now.

'Chuffed,' for those of you unfamiliar with the term, means happy or pleased. I'm not sure what the origin is (and yes, I know a quick google search or visit to Wikipedia would probably answer the question), but I use it because of tigers.  When a tiger is happy to seen someone, they chuff. It's a noise that sounds like a bunch of V's and F's strung together.  v-v-v-v-v-vv-f-f-f-f-f-f-f.  A tiger chuff, ladies and gents.

This is Jasmine, Bengal tiger formerly residing at EFBC/FCC. She chuffed before she kissed me. I chuffed before I kissed her back.  Tiger spit somehow is not a gross thing. Jasmine left us two years ago...but she was a mighty chuffer in her day.  And just for the record...it was a very chaste kiss.

Oh yeah...Lilah, this is another one of my mewses.  One of the larger ones. 

Tags: succubusted | woot | tiger chuff | efbc-fcc

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Tags: drama queen | frustration | writing

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I had a writing date today with Cynthia Gentry, another Ravenous author (and if you haven’t checked out her short story JUST FRIENDS, hie thee hence to the Ravenous Rendezvous and do so!), at a Starbucks.

I am new to the whole writing in a coffee house thing and am still surprised at how easy it is to concentrate when in that environment. Used to be I’d be in a Starbucks/Peets/Seattle’s Best/independent-coffee-establishment-not-run-by-a- corporation and marvel at all the serious looking people with their laptops just typing away. How the heck did they get anything done?  I liked to be alone when I wrote, preferably on a rainy day with a fire in the fireplace, music on to drown out the sound of traffic and noisy neighbors. The thought of trying to write in the middle of a public place seemed counterproductive. 

Cynthia, however, does most of her writing at coffee houses and convinced me to give it a try a couple months ago.  To my surprise, I found it eerily easy to focus and got a large chunk of work done in a short amount of time.  It’s like being encased in one’s own private bubble surrounded by the white noise of the other patrons and sound of the espresso machines.

Once in a while a shrieking baby (reaching decibels that make me check to see if my eardrums are bleeding) pierces my happy little private bubble.  Or the occasional loud-mouthed ass on his/her cell, apparently determined to share highly personally information with the entire room.  You know the type.  Kind of like a mini (and one-sided) Jerry Springer segment.  But for the most part, I have found my coffee house writing dates quite productive.

And now, per request (this is for you, Lilah!), a picture of another one of my mews.

This picture also illustrates one of the reasons my attitude towards the whole coffee house thing has changed.  YOU try writing with a cat (a plumptious tidbit of a feline, to be precise) balanced precariously on your shoulder, claws digging in for purchase every now and again while you’re trying to write a hot sex scene.  One not set in a dungeon or involving piercings, that is. 

Thought I’d better qualify that, given the crowd I’m currently running with here. 

Tags: Coffee house | writing dates | Starbucks | feline interference

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My last post was about my muse, Zin.  Well, this is one of my mews, Tsavo. We hosted a pot luck/book swap last year and Tsavo decided the books brought in were his.  Whenever anyone added a book to the collection, he'd smack his paw down on it with a definite 'Mine!' intent.  He reminds me of Smaug hunkering over his horde of gold.

I have multiple mews.  I won't mention how many because it's officially a couple over the number pictured in the Crazy Cat Lady Action figure. Let's just say 'a few' and leave it at that.

What does this have to do with writing?  Oh, a lot.  Several of my fellow RR authors have talked about the discipline necessary to be a writer, especially when you're juggling full time jobs (I am), a relationship (yup), things like exercise (Zin checks out if I don't give her an hour walk as a minimum), and kids (none of those, but did I mention those cats?  I completely agree; discipline is absolutely required to finish a book/story/screenplay and whether you produce 5,000 words a day or 500, the important thing is committing to the time to do it.

Which leads me to my point here. Distractions are a part of writing if you are not lucky enough to have that ideal writer's haven.  You know, like the ones written up in coffee table books with names like  'The Ideal Writer's Haven.' A friend of mine hit it big with a screenplay and now has a little guest cottage type deal in back of her main house, a retreat where she can shut out the rest of the world.  And yes, you can color me green with envy, but it's tempered by the fact she earned it and deserves it.  But still...green.

Most of us don't have that sort of ideal creative space.  So we create our own little writer's nook, be it in a spare room, a coffee house, or just our favorite comfy spot in the house. Maybe we light candles, put on music... Whatever it takes to get in that zone.  But if you have kids (or cats), you can't always shut them out and sometimes you just have make due.  For instance, right now I'm sitting in my favorite rocking chair, MacBook on a pillow on my lap...and one of my cats on my lap above the pillow. It's not the easiest way to work. I've tried putting her down several times.  But she wants attention, she wants it now, her 'daddy' won't do, it has to be Mom.

A few minutes ago two of my little darlings got into a fracas, emitting the kind of howls normally only heard on Wild Kingdom or in bad vampire movies when the sexy vampire gal gets staked and lets the world know about it.  No blood shed, just a lot of fuss and fuming.  Two of the younger ones have a constant game of hockey going on, the puck being a wine cork, and the thundering of paws sounds more like the thundering of a passing herd of elephants.  Large portions of Succubusted and Ripping the Bodice were written to such accompaniment. And sometimes it was Just. Really. Irritating. But I worked through it and didn't use the distractions as an excuse to call it quits at any given time.  I might have used it as an excuse to take a brief break and get a glass of wine for Zin...but then I got back to it.

What's my real point?  Eh, I just wanted to post the picture of Tsavo with the books. O

Tags: distractions | discipline | writers havens | cats

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This is my Muse (and yes, her picture has changed - she's a mercurial sort!). You will note she has a glass of wine in one hand.  This is not unusual.  Muse (we'll just call her Zin for her favorite varietal) is very fond of wine.

But I digress.  Zin and I used to hang out a lot together.  When we were kids, she and I were basically inseparable.  Zin got me through some rough times by entertaining me endlessly with stories and characters (sometimes when I should have been paying attention in class).  We wrote a lot of stories together and usually got A's in creative writing, even when several teachers told us to 'try and write something a bit less morbid next time.'  Zin and I LOVED horror.

Then puberty hit and we discovered sex.

Ooh, boy.

I have notebooks full of stories, partial novels and little vignettes of all genres, all of them with some pretty steamy sex scenes considering my lack of actual experience at the time. I would scribble endlessly in notebooks and on my IBM Selectric (please don't try and figure out how many years ago that was... it's not kind) at work when I wasn't actualy working, and Zin sat on the edge of my desk and provided inspiration.

Then Zin left me for periods of time.  Took off like some moll on the lam, leaving me with months and sometimes years when the writing  didn't happen.  She'd show back up at the damndest times, usually in the middle of the night, pounding on the door with some sob story about how I had to hide her or they'd drill her full of holes... Zin has always been a drama queen.

When I started writing for Ravenous Romance, Zin had been gone for a while.  I'd gotten my first mystery novel published, true...but that was after 15 years of intermittent visits and lots of rewrites.  She was notably absent for several years.  And then...all of a sudden, Zin showed up at the door again and I wrote SUCCUBUSTED in a few days, with the same giddy, words-won't-stop-flowing feeling I used to have when we were writing sexy vignettes involving Han Solo and some lucky girl pulled out of my imagination.

I started on Ripping the Bodice, my first novel for Ravenous.  Zin was there at my side almost every day (she took off a couple of days for Napa) and the word output was amazing.  And I had fun writing it.  It was like old times.  Me and Zin together, giggling and imagining all sorts of fun, exciting and rather naughty scenarios.

I decided to get Zin tipsy the other night and talk to her.

"So. What's the deal here?  You ditch me for months, sometimes years on end, and suddenly you're a full time roomie again.  I'm not complaining, mind you, but what gives?"

"Well..." Zin takes a thoughtful sip of wine (okay, she guzzled it, but I'm trying to be polite here) before answering. "You're writing about sex and romance again.  I like sex."

"So when I was working those horror screenplays, you left me to it because they weren't sexy enough?"

Zin looks offended. "Hey, I was there with you part of the time.  But you had other writing partners for those.  I didn't think you needed me."

Awww... "Jeez, Zin, I ALways need you."

Mollifed, Zin replies, "Well, I guess that's true.  But you sure didn't act like it. And besides, you're not whining about all the other stuff you have to do these days.  You were a real whiny bitch there for a while.  Now you're just having fun like you used to.  I like the 'no whiny bitch' thing. And did I mention I like sex?"

"So...you'll stick around for a while this time?"

"Sure!  You've got 7 more books to write for Ravenous...and I'll bet I can help you come up with some more good ideas! Lots of sex!"  Holding out her empty glass.  "Fill her up, barkeep!"

Zin's hanging out in the living room with me now, demanding a movie. We've been working hard, so it's a night off with Tropic Thunder.  I think she's earned it.

Tags: muse | writing

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Hi, all!

Sigh. 

I had a much more lengthy and spectacular post planned for my very first addition to my Inara LaVey author blog page here, but it got eaten by my computer.  Which brings me to my very first piece of writerly advice:

Never compose online. And if you DO choose to ignore this advice, make sure you save your drafts compulsively. 

I don't offer this advice lightly.  I have lost numerous articles, posts and emails by blithely writing away online, only to have my 'net connection vanish or my computer freeze or any number of mishaps (one of my cats once jumped on my laptop and managed to disconnect me from the 'net) which resulted in me having to rewrite whatever it was I was working on at the time.  Many a King Homer-like D'OH!!!!!! has rung out through the halls of work or home because of my inability to follow my own advice. 

Use me as an object lesson.  Don't let this happen to you. 

That being said...New Author Blog Page!  Sweet!! 

I'm very happy to be part of Ravenous Romance and looking forward to reading my fellow authors' works and hearing from readers who've read my  work!   Now excuse me while I go OFF line and rewrite my original blog post for tomorrow. 

Tags: inara lavey | ravenous romance | new blog page | frustration | composing online | losing work | first post

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