...But you look so normal?

Not too long ago I was at a friend's framing shop. I had stopped in to say hello and catch up, but seeing as she was busy, I told her I would come back another time. Needless to say, she asked me to stay, saying she'd only be a minute finishing up with a client that had come in from New York City to have some custom work done.

We all got chatting, and my friend mentioned that I was an author, and had been successful with recent book signings at a few local Barnes & Nobles. The look on the client's face was nothing short of incredulous. It wasn't because she had read my work and couldn't believe I had scored book signings at such a big chain, nor was it because I was a small pubbed author...it was because she couldn't believe I was an author at all. And her reason?

"But you look SO normal!

She simply couldn't wrap her head around the idea that someone with talent could walk around without being pierced, tattooed, or sporting mutli-colored neon hair.

"That's certainly not what we see walking around the city?" she said staring at me like I was some sort of anomoly. I half expected her to turn me round and ask me to open my mouth so she could examine my teeth.

I politely told her that while those things may very well be the "costume de rigueur" of people who consider themselves creative, true creativity lies in how one dresses the mind, not the body. And while fashion choices may be an outward show of a creative mind, it certainly ISN'T a pre-requisite for one.

Now I'm no stranger to the stranger types...I hold an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, and have my fair share of friends who choose to dress as such, but that doesn't automatically make them more creative or talented than anyone else. Sadly, in my opinion, it almost makes them cliché, a stereotype of just the thing they are trying to rage against.

For Romance Writer's the stereotype is even sadder. When most people think of us, it's usually the image of a lonely woman sitting in a bathrobe and fuzzy slippers, conjuring lovers and adventure in her imagination. In other words, one step away from being the neighborhood cat lady. If that description just made you go "eeewww", then you get it. Thankfully, for most of us that image is far from accurate, and the same goes for the people who read our work.

On one of the Amazon forums, a woman once described what we write as 'white noise', what she reads to dumb down her mind after a busy day. While I don't mind the idea of our genre being escapist, I do mind the stereotype that it's somehow less than, and to say that it's something one reads to "dumb down a mind' is insulting to those of us who work so hard at our craft.

Stereotypes are hurtful and wrong... especially when they bleed into your personal space.

Marianne Morea

Friend or Foe?

Like a new recruit standing at attention, rigidly sweating bullets as his drill sergeant walks up and down the line just waiting for that one newbie to make eye contact, I await the first set of changes from my new editor.

She's tough, or so I've been warned. Actually the exact words were, "be afraid, be very afraid..."

So as each passing day dawns, with new and varied ways for my imagination to spike my anxiety, I gotta ask myself. Friend or Foe?

From what I understand, an editor's job is to take your manuscript, the story you wrote, edited, read and reread, spit and polished beyond and inch of its life, and dissect it. For those of us who have been through the process, it's not a pleasant one. Based on that alone, you'd naturally think...foe, right?

But there's always the other hand.

You want your story to be the best it can be. It's what all authors want...that and a spot on the NY Times Bestseller List. So a good editor is a necessary evil. Just think about the stigma and the slings and arrows many self-pubbed authors have to endure and you can appreciate why. It's the most common element cited in negative reviews across the board. Poor editing.

As much as it may pain you to have someone look at your work with an ice-cold eye, in the long run it makes for a much better story, and that leads to better reviews and increased sales.

Friend or Foe? I think the answer is neither one. The best way to describe a good editor is the term, Devil's Advocate...someone who can see the promised land and knows how to get there, but is going to make you work for your rite of passage.

Editing may be a jagged little pill, but a good editor knows how to bury it in a spoon full of sugar.

I just hope mine agrees.

Rejection and Reflection the two 'R's of a Writer's Reality

When you're a writer, or any other kind of artist for that matter, there comes a time in your creative life when you spread your wings and try to fly. You spend your time preparing, honing your work...polishing it, loving it, dreaming about how it will be accepted. You daydream, you worry back and forth, but eventually you step to the ledge, close your eyes and jump...praying the whole time that the thud won't be too loud or too painful if it doesn't work out.

This scenario applies in almost every situation a writer faces, from the decision to write, to eventually submitting your work to be judged.

So, since all art is subjective, it becomes a matter of statistics. At some point in our careers we will all face rejection. It can come from a publisher telling us, thanks but no thanks, a bad review, poor sales, or not making the cut in some contest judged by industry professionals.

What happens then? What next?

For me...and many of my peers...we spend time wallowing in a vat of chocolate. But when you're done consoling yourself and you're either ready to puke or you've gained 10lbs, you climb out and it's time for reflection.

By reflection I don't mean go grab a whip and start self-flagellation. I mean ask yourself a few simple questions...

1. Was I happy with my finished my story, did I love my characters?
2. Did I enjoy writing it?
3. Does writing bring me joy?
4. Am I good at it?
5. Can I get even better?

and the most important questions of all....

If I stop writing, will I be happy? Is that what I want to do?

The questions are easy, it's the answers that are hard. Basically, every writer has to ask themselves who it is exactly that they write for? Why they write? If the answer is for money and fame, then in my opinion you're in it for some very wrong reasons. Those two things are fringe benefits that come with luck. If you do it because it's what you love, then the rest doesn't really matter. The nuts and bolts of your craft will come with time and practice...but a love of storytelling will make the difference between something average and something great.

I Dare You

Lately I've been really struggling to get words down in my WIPs (yeah, I work on more than one at a time ... I always have) and have resorted to doing something that always seems to work.

Dares.

Way back when in ... 2005, I think, I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time. I had SO much fun! But, there were times when I got stuck and simply could NOT find the 1600 words that day. Then I discovered the NaNoWriMo message boards -- and there was one in particular that excited me to no end.

The Dares.

Here are just a few that I jotted down to use. See what YOU think:

* Have a character who is so extremely obsessive about order that they can only talk alphabetically.

* Have your most serious character own (and proudly display) a hot pink tablecloth.

* Have a character that is prone to accidentally setting random objects on fire (waste baskets, slippers, dish rags, etc.)

* 15 chickens appear somewhere in your novel.
+bonus points if these 15 chickens appear every chapter

* Make at least 15 references throughout your novel to the game of Monopoly.

* Have a cat follow the main characters around EVERYWHERE.
+ BP if the cat is in places a cat simply should not be.
+ DBP if the cat is always asleep when the characters notice it.
+ TBP if the cat wakes up at the end of the story.

* Have a discreet shout out to every movie you (the author) have seen in the previous year-- aka a quoted line, a plot detail, a prop appearing in a scene.

* Include a Spontaneous Chicken Situation. It doesn't matter what a SCS is. Just include it.

* Have a character begin misquoting literary classics at every occasion

* Include a character with a pet turtle named Awkward.

* Have something a character reads or writes on the inside of a bathroom stall turn into a major plot point.

I could go on and on and on ... the writers who are reading this: How many of you got an idea from these dares?

And for everyone: I actually used three of these in WIPs. Anyone care to guess which three?

What do you do when you're stuck and the muse just won't cooperate?

Visit Marianne at her website and blog.