Digging The Skeletons Out Of The Closet

My mind is still abuzz with the editing and book cover design for my soon-to-be-released YA paranormal (the book cover, by the way, is being created by Crystalyn Abercrombie, natural-born artist and expert inker, who should be known the world over - OMG, OMG, OMG – it is fabulous!!!), so for today’s post, I decided to clean out the mental closet – a nice break from the routine.

Following in the footsteps of my fellow bloggers, August McLaughlin, Amber West, Tim O’Brien, Natalie Hartford, and Tameri Etherton, each who have done posts similar to this, I thought it would be fun to do a little Q & A session with you all, at Tameri’s urging, to see if you knew how much of a Goody-Goody I was/am (or not).

Here’s how this works:  I’ll list some things that I may or may not have done.  Your challenge is to let me know in the comments section which items you think are true or false.  In a couple of days, I’ll give you the answers.

This should be interesting.  I wonder what impression you have of me, given the previous soul-revealing posts I’ve written.

So, let’s get started:

1.         In high school, I was a forgery expert.

2.         In the 1980s I made Tijuana runs and snuck bottles of Everclear grain alcohol back across the border.

3.         I helped organize a relief effort for Hurricane Katrina survivors in 2005.

4.         I snuck backstage at a UFO concert back in the 1980s.

5.         In college I cut my hair within inches of my scalp as a dare from my sorority sisters.

6.         I slept in the gutter outside of my college dorm after a particularly wild night.

7.         While working in the Security Department in college, I was a model employee.

8.         I stole a moped.

9.         I used to make cookies and distribute them to residents in retirement homes.

10.       My college roommates and I had were very thrifty and furnished our apartment with stolen furniture.

"Did she or didn't she?" Photo: prevention.com

There you have it.  How well do you think you know me?  Educated guesses and stabs in the dark are totally allowed.

How Does A Brain Freeze in 98.6 Degree Weather?

I’m talking about the weather in my head.  Yeah, there’s definitely a storm raging in there that started about 48 years ago, with no sign of slowing down.  The friction from my brain cells slamming into each other alone is responsible for 99% of that heat.

So why is it that I have nothing to show for it in terms of my blog today?  I mean, I literally sat in front of my computer for four hours last night – with a few attempts at inspiration, by poking the logs in the wood stove, washing dishes, snacking on hummus – with not a single blogging thought making any sort of appearance.

Photo: soundcloud.com

Topics were not a problem.  Got plenty of those.  The problem was that my brain just…..froze up.  Creativity?  Perhaps if I could have gotten a string of words on the page, I could have faked the creativity part of it, but the words were playing hide and seek with me.

I’m a pantster, I go with the flow, I react, I put out fires.  I am in the moment at any given time.  But I sat in a very, very, very long moment last night, just staring and wondering what the hell I was doing.

It was frustrating to say the least.  Although I have had to cut back on blogging temporarily to once a week (because I am putting energy into my next novel which, by the way, is in the home-stretch stage) I love getting on here and saying something…anything…to spark a discussion.

Some of the frigidity may be due to the fact that a lot is going on in my personal life.  (The most interesting by far is the suspicion that my father’s will looks like it has been tampered with/switched out/forged, courtesy of two gold-digging family members – and I use the term “family” loosely.)   Be that as it may, even in the midst of the day job, kiddy care, and other goings-on, I’m usually able to slip into the writing world without too much problem, being able to start with a single sentence and get the blog going from there.

Last night was different for some reason and I don’t really know why.  As a big fan of Mike Dooley, I’m taking his advice and I won’t try to figure it out because spending energy on the whys won’t propel me forward.  It will just keep me in a holding pattern of stagnation.

Don’t worry, I’ll be back again with some incredibly interesting post.  *wink*  I’m just going to chill for a couple of days and let my brain thaw.  My WANA sister, Angela Peart, suggested I try sleeping.  Hmm.  As crazy as that sounds, it might just work.

I’m thinking that I’m not alone in this and that most of you writers and bloggers come up empty on occasion as well.

Do me a favor, then.  Let me know what you do to switch those gears and get back on track.   Does this happen to you very often?  Am I lacking something (besides sleep)?  Do I need to switch coffee brands?  Perhaps to a darker roast? Should I up the chocolate intake?  Drink more?  Drink less?

Wine and coffee together ~ This girl may be onto something! Photo: Steve Hall bootcampdigital.com

What is your magic bullet?  I’d really love to know!