Writing and publishing romantic erotica is the…uh…“hot” topic tomorrow night at InspiredAuthor.com’s weekly free chat.   The word is out that the discussion will center around Phaze, the erotic romance imprint of Mundania Press, LLC.  It’s likely that Phaze authors will be sharing their experiences. And wouldn’t it be exciting if a Phaze editor or two made an appearance.  This is a unique opportunity for writers to learn about writing and publishing in this specialized genre.  

If writing women’s erotica is not your thing, there are still benefits from attending the chat. There’s the opportunity to network with writers who work in various genres. There’s a opportunity to learn about the publishing industry from the inside and how to market yourself.  Writing can be a lonely occupation, so treat yourself to a night of fun and comradery with other writers.  The free chat starts at 7:00 pm eastern time on Friday. 

Veterans’ Day is a special day we in the United States set aside to honor the men and women of our military forces who serve our country. - past, present and future.  With our nation currently at war, I think it is important to take the time to say a sincere “thank you” to all our military forces, at home and abroad. You can learn about the history of Veterans Day and this weekend’s activities at the Veterans Affairs official website.

I come from a long line of military veterans.  Way back in my lineage, an uncle fought in the Civil War. My grandfather served in World War I and World War II.  My father served in World War II and during the Korean Conflict. My mother was a member of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in WWII.  My uncle Paul (Mother’s younger brother) died in the skies over the English Channel during WWII.  Two sisters were in the military - one in the Army and one in the Air Force.  And each of those girls married military men. I was the rogue, doing my service in the Navy Reserve.

There’s likely to be a showing of the movie “To Hell and Back” this weekend. The movie stars real-life World War II hero Audie Murphy. I’ve seen it numerous times and Murphy’s bravery still awes me. He was also a talented songwriter and his music was recorded by a number of well known artists, including Gordon Lightfoot and Bonnie Guitar.

Another moving tribute to our veterans comes from Canadian musician Terry Kelly, whose song “A Pittance in Time” is well worth a listen.

I’ve been trying to fit my characters into an already-written outline for a novel I started a few years ago. It hasn’t been working. I’ve been extremely frustrated and discouraged because of it. I’ve been doing this daily writing thing, but it has felt like slogging through mud. I almost gave up yesterday when it got to be 10 p.m. and I hadn’t written a single word.  One more time I had to force myself to sit down at the computer and write. It was more about knowing that if I slack off for even one day during November, it will be that much easier to slack off for two days..or three days..And ya’ll know where that leads.  I wound up journaling - which counts as writing, and which is something that a lot of writers have used successfully. Julie Cameron’s insistence upon morning pages comes to mind.

Slogging or not, I’m pleased with myself today. I have now written something for five days - in a row!!  And it’s beginning to pay off. I woke up this morning with a new focus for my WIP.  I have a new idea for the title and some new paths for my three main characters. Somewhere along the line, I must have unconsciously given myself permission to let go of the old and invite in the new.  I’m five days into the 21 days needed to build a new habit, and I’m excited about the new direction my WIP is taking.

Are you stuck in your writing? Career not going where you want it to? Are you questioning whether or not you really want to write a novel?  Even if you don’t feel plagued by self-doubt, a brief conversation with Lori Chance can give you insight about yourself and your goals. Lori is a life coach for writers and she can help you discover what you really want.  I had the opportunity to watch her in action at the InspiredAuthor chat tonight.  By asking simple, but specific questions, Lori helped a freelance writer overcome her hesitation about writing a fiction piece. Someone commented that it was like therapy, but Lori explained that therapy tends to look at the past and coaching focuses on the future. Lori is a delightful lady and the chat gave the participants a good deal of food for thought.

I got off to a rocky start with NaNo yesterday. I had a major brain freeze. You, know, the kind that blocks any iota of creativity concerning your WIP.  Frankly, it scared me and that huge mountain of self doubt about my ability to write a novel came crashing down on me.  I couldn’t even come up with any ideas to blog about, and that began the process of eroding more of my self confidence.  Can you tell I was heading downhill toward that canyon of despair with no brakes?

Fortunately, I’ve been struggling with writing a novel for a very long time. I say “fortunately” because I recognized this path and I know what to do.  I gave myself a basic pep talk, starting with reiterating the exact nature of my goal with NaNoWriMo.  My goal for November is simply to write every single day in order to develop and reinforce the habit of daily writing.  That’s it. No great American novel. No stress about counting words or pages.  Just relax and write every day. If my NaNoWriMo participation results in a rough draft, that’s a plus.

Keeping my goal small and manageable is what I need to do to succeed today. So no more kicking myself around. I met my stated goal yesterday, and I have met it today. The other thing that helped me get over my slump today was this article on writer’s block by author Holly Lisle.