Writers Guide
J.K. Rowling had Writer’s Block?
Or…what’s your muse up to?

Look, if 2.9 million copies of either of the sequels to Sandy Lender's Choices Meant for Gods were guaranteed to fly off the shelves the way 2.9 million copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows are supposed to fly off the shelves this weekend, you can best bet there would be no problem with writer’s block in my writing den. I have no problem with writer’s block on a bad day. I can’t imagine it descending upon me if I’ve been listed as one of the wealthiest women in the world—that would be right up there with the Waltons and the Queen of England. I read an article back in the winter that Rowling had writer's block because killing off one of the characters had messed her up. Now, dude, don't get me wrong, killing off characters sucks. I know. It hurts. I truly feel for what Rowling went through there. You have to put the manuscript down for a couple days (or a month in the case of one of mine) and mourn…while you work on all of the 19 other works in progress.

So. The topic of this article is “what’s your muse up to” because I’m curious about this. How many writers out there actually struggle to get started writing each day? How many of you find it difficult to come up with a new idea or a new plotline or a new character? How many of you, seriously, ever suffer from writer’s block?

See…I never do. For Pete's sake, People, I practically drive off the road writing down ideas in heavy traffic because this stuff just hits me any time, day or night. Maybe it’s the pictures of John Taylor in all his hotness plastered around my writing den that keeps the creativity stoked. Maybe it’s the pictures of dragons. Maybe it's the streaming iTunes with Duran Duran and Arcadia in heavy rotation amid the Barry Manilow, Robert Palmer, Norah Jones, etc. Maybe it’s the candles I light when I want to work on the medieval-themed stories.

Oh, wait.

I may have just stumbled upon it. The medieval-themed stories versus the regular-ol’-fantasy stories versus the vampire stories versus the paranormal romance stories (oh, yeah, for some reason, my face-to-face visit with my muse back on December 15 struck the paranormal romance vibe in my brain and I wrote one of those novels…now I can’t stop) versus flash fiction stories versus stories for eBooks that my online writers group puts together from time to time versus this story about a winged girl who was abandoned at birth (which is really upsetting Nigel Taiman, let me tell you) versus marketing materials like press releases that get me all riled up versus…

Do you see where I’m going with this? I don’t have time for writer’s block.

So tell me if there really are “real people” like you and me who suffer from this. And what do you do to overcome it? Because, hey, I could post an article about tickling the muse tomorrow if we need to. I mean, the idea of throwing John Taylor to the floor here in the den and tickling him is fabulous. And, with that thought in mind, I feel the need to go write…

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”

Tags: Choices Meant for Gods, Sandy Lender, Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows, writers block, writers guide, fantasy, Duran Duran, paranormal romance, vampire, flash fiction, marketing materials, press releases, muse, tickling the muse, John Taylor, dragon

Face to Face with the Muse
A quick thank-you to John Taylor

For all you writers out there, how many of you have real-life muses? See, I have two muses. One is the fictional character Chariss, from Choices Meant for Gods, and she’s very nice. Accommodating. Calm. Reasonable. If I’m exhausted and not able to focus on the computer screen, she doesn’t expect me to write.

The other is a real person, but he has no idea that he is Walking Inspiration Among Mortals because he’s a celebrity whom I merely admire from afar. His “presence in the form of the muse” (and you writers know what I mean) is much more demanding than Chariss. If I’m exhausted and not able to focus on the computer screen, and Chariss has quietly left the room, the other muse shows up with the key and manacle and says, “Oh, sorry, thought you took this writing career seriously; back to the computer desk.”

I met John Taylor (Duran Duran, Trust the Process, Juicy Couture) in the flesh Friday evening and thought I would publicly thank him here for the experience. (Although I probably won’t be able to sleep properly until mid-January for the creativity flowing through me from the three minutes spent in his real-life presence, I’m still thankful.) The gentleman won’t read this (reality check), but I believe in courtesy and all. He was gracious enough to sign one of the bookmarks I’ve had printed to promote the upcoming release of Choices Meant for Gods, so I’ll be framing and hanging that on the wall this afternoon.

For the kindness he showed to me and to each crazed fan in the enormous line of people waiting to meet him Friday night, this is just a quick thank-you. And from all the writers out there to all our muses, real or otherwise, we’re eternally grateful.

“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”