It’s September, and I sit at my desk watching the rain lash at my window.
It's only a short, sharp shower but so much more than we’ve had since the beginning of summer. It’s been hotter and drier than anything we’ve experienced here for many, many years.
Don’t get me wrong. I love sitting in the backyard, the parasols shading the
table, with my laptop, iPad, and phone in front of me while the sun blazes from a sapphire blue sky and the temperatures rise. I’ve done a lot of writing out there this year, and I feel like I’ve gotten things done.
My next book, the fourth in the Bound by Conviction Series has been sent to my formatter, and now I have to gear up for getting it released. I haven’t set a date yet as I want to plan stuff out first, but I’m hoping it won’t be too long.
The cover is gorgeous, and the story heartbreaking. This is the first of a two-parter and won’t have an HEA until the end of book five.
Grayson Hawke’s story was heavy to write. He carries a lot of emotional baggage, and his love interest comes with her own issues. They have a very rocky road ahead of them, and outside influences work hard and dirty to keep them apart.
Writing these emotionally charged stories can be both physically and mentally draining. The characters live in your head, take on a life of their own, and won’t leave you in peace until they’ve told you their most intimate details. Sometimes, we need a break, which is easier said than done. I don’t know any writer who’s very good at taking time away from crafting their stories, but it is necessary to recharge and reset.
I knew I desperately wanted to go see my family in Sweden this summer, and my son wanted to go with me. So, after carefully studying our calendars, questioning anyone who might have a demand on our time, and discussing it with everyone concerned, we finally hopped on the plane and flew to Stockholm.
The weather was just as good there as here at home, but instead of living in the ‘burbs, we were now on an island with a short walk down to the shore and woods right behind the house. I felt a little as if I could breathe again. Of course, that could just be from the cleaner air, but I’d like to think it’s where my heart can settle back into childhood memories and familiar sights, sounds, and smells.
Many a morning, I’d wake before everyone else, get dressed quietly, and sneak out of the house with the dog for an early morning walk in the woods. The silence among the trees is soothing, the smells of sun-warmed earth, moss, and pine invigorating. Everything feels fresh and bright, life is teeming both on the ground and up in the trees, and the new day is filled with opportunities and hope.
These morning walks — and the afternoon ones, and the midnight ones — give me time and space to work out the kinks in my stories, let me fall deep into the emotions, and help me find a way for my characters to get out of their pits of despair, untangle their complicated feelings, and fall helplessly, irrevocably in love. Their devotion and passion for each other knows no bounds, but first they have to get to a place where they feel safe to be who they are.
I’m very fortunate to have close friends who do what I do — create stories in their heads, make the characters come alive, and have them take over and charge off in an entirely different direction to what you expected. They get me and I get them. We can discuss our creations and know the others will understand the often wordy, convoluted, and sometimes abbreviated language we use and the challenges we face bringing these fictional worlds to life. It can be exhausting, but also exasperating, thrilling, and absolutely terrifying. Bareknuckle fighting, kidnapping, and fighting for survival, oh my.
These friends are my sisters, my coven, my tribe, my ride-or-die, and I will hang on to them for as long as they’ll have me.
Now when summer is over, I’ll have to put away my flip-flops, fold the parasols, and vacate my outdoor office. My writing continues, however, and I’ve already got a paranormal romance waiting to be edited, and I’m halfway through writing the second book in the Agent of Honor Series.
The light and warmth of the days may be waning, but I’ll light my candles, crank up the music, bring out the fuzzy slippers, and immerse myself in the sweet mayhem on the pages. Fall brings its own comforts, and those crisp, clear days when the trees glow in shades of gold, bronze, and red are a great time to be alive.
Next year, summer will once again bring light, warmth, and an explosion of colors. Before then, I’m sure the darker months will bring many more stories for me to share with you.