Rise of the Guardians and Life lessons

In the world where I grew up, work was work and play was play and never the twain would meet. People grew up and got jobs they had to do to pay the bills. Then they had jobs they had to do to make sure the household kept running roughly in a forward and productive direction while remaining on the livable side of tidy and clean. If people had time left over, they played. If they played, they played pretty damn hard, because when was the next chance going to come along? Maybe never.

I confess, I pretty much hated the world I grew up in. My observation was that all work and little play made adults pretty miserable. I wanted none of it. I simply resolved never to bother with the whole growing up thing. I liked my crayons and paper and my books. I went to school and took art, so I could keep my crayons. Now I write my own books. Growing up is for schmucks.


Last week, I took my twelve-year-old daughter to see Rise of the Guardians. We laughed and cried and thought Jack was a little anime cutie, and we wanted to see it again. I've been trying for months to figure out if she still believes in Santa. I realized that day that it doesn't matter, because I still think Santa exists. I know dreams are worth dreaming and nothing exists until you believe in it
.
And that's what I want my kids to learn. Because I look around at the people who learned lessons from the world we grew up in and I see them wilting and turning grey. There is no wonder left. If they can't afford bigger and better toys, they're miserable, bored and lonely. They don't remember how to play.

I'm  not so naive I don't understand there are things you have to do in life that you would rather not do. Someone has to change the diapers, clean the kitty litter and scrub the toilets. No one really wants to do that shit, because no one, at least, no one I've met, really thinks feces is fun. I'm sure these people exist, but I'm going to bet they're pretty rare.  But neither are there many people who dream of working at day jobs they hate, I think.

So I'm going to teach my kids to dream. To keep the wonder and always remember how to play. In fact, I'll encourage them to find out how they can make their play pay the bills. Because working five times as hard as anyone else at the thing that makes your heart sings means you'll make some breath-stopping, head-turning, jaw-droppingly beautiful heart music. And the world needs that like we need the sun.

Sorry for the lack of snark today, but after two weeks of one thing after another, I decided I could bitch and complain, or I could remember how lucky I am that I get to make my heart music and so I chose to sing.

And now, Bobby Wills can sing  bit, because he's way better at it than I am, actually. (sorry, fellow strong women, just plug your ears. Country music ahead!)

The Dreaded Blank Page (And Giveaway)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I seldom get writer’s block but when I do it’s frightening. However, I’ve finally realized the one thing that will make it worse and even keep my muse firmly blocked--staring at the blank page.

Don’t do this.

LOL! Well, don’t!

Seriously, though, that empty expanse of white tricks your brain into believing there are no ideas, that the muse is dead or passed out behind the couch with an empty fifth of whip-cream-flavored vodka [the lazy bitch!]. Don’t fall for the blank page. It’s a ruse of the Furies. It’s a weapon of the bad guy who sits on your shoulder. It’s the excuse we all use to do other things from laundry to sorting the sock drawer and more.

I find this happens to me the most after I’ve been working like mad on more than one manuscript. This occurred last fall when I wrote three holiday stories right after edits and promo for Fire in Winter, a short tale that’s part of The Edge series. I guess Naomi’s new, wintry-hot lover inspired me, lol. Take a bit of handsome, blue-eyed frost, some sex toys, being cooped up while it dumps snow outside…

Uh… What was a talking about?

Oh, yeah. The blank page.

Naomi even gets gifts of ice sculptures from her hunky winter representative, and although he turns down the heat in her house, he turns her thermostat up, up, up. And then he—

[Looks around at all the quirked eyebrows and stares]

I wandered off again, didn’t I?

Anyhoo, if you complete several manuscripts within a close time frame, always remember to give yourself at least a week off before you start pounding the keyboard again. I speak from experience. An exhausted brain will refuse to cooperate, and if you stare at a blank page, that only compounds matters. Walk away from the laptop or PC and let your mind wander. That’s when a blog topic or a new plot will pop into your head.

But Naomi’s new man can pop things into her that—dang it if this keeps up [no, not *that* up!], I’m gonna have to go find the hubby! I won’t even get started on the hunky vamps of The Holiday Series or talk about Richie and Albert. Too many dreamy guys! No, I’ll blame it on the climbing temperatures here in eastern Ohio. It was 2˚ the other morning and now, as I type this post, it’s 70˚ and I’m sweating. I’m blaming it on the weather. Yeah, that’s it. The Weather!

Maybe.

Fire in Winter

The Holiday Series, Book One

Richie and Albert's story

Giveaway:

I find myself with several guest appearances this month so my giveaway is going to be a little different. I’ll have a small giveaway at each appearance, but at my last one for January, there will be a grand finale prize. At each of my guest blogs, leave a meaningful comment and be entered to win an e-book from my Molly Diamond (retired pen name www.MollyDiamond.com) backlist. Comment at every stop and you’ll have more chances to win the grand prize on January 30^th—a nice, big coffee mug with goodies stuffed inside it AND an ebook! 

January 11th - Paranormal Haven normalhaven.com/2013/01/guest-post-and-giveaway-from-author.htmlJanuary 15th - Literary Lagniappe literarylagniappe.com/2013/01/15/a-lil-controversy-fangs-and-a-holiday-series-by-fl-bicknell/
Today - Four Strong Women http://fourstrongwomen.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-dreaded-blank-page-and-giveaway.html
January 21st - Silken Sheets and Seduction http://silkensheetsandseduction.wordpress.com/blog/
January 30th - Trinity Blacio's website - http://www.trinityblacio.com/blog 

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Bio:

F.L. Bicknell's work has appeared in a wide range of genres and publications such as: Would That It Were, Touch, GC, and Ohio Writer Magazine as well as publications in Canada and Turkey. Under her now-retired pseudonym, Molly Diamond, she was a regular contributor to Gent and Ruthie's Club and has had fiction published in Hustler's Busty Beauties, Penthouse Variations, and Twenty 1 Lashes. Ms. Bicknell is the author of several e-book and print titles, also writing as Azura Ice, Amber Redd, Cutter Phoenix, and Kiyara Benoiti. She has served as co-editor and managing editor for three different publishing houses. She is represented by TriadaUS Literary Agency.