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 

Follow me at Twitter www.Twitter.com/FLBicknell

Join me at Facebook www.Facebook.com/faithbicknellbrown

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.

Being a Morning Person

by Jessica Subject

I’m a morning person. Have been for as long as I can remember. Usually this is a good thing, as I can get a lot of work done, especially related to my writing, while the rest of my family is asleep. Or so I thought.

My husband and daughter are both afternoon people. Not night hawks, but they function better about mid-day after they’ve had a couple hours to wake up. That works for me.

Then my son came along. I hoped he would be the same as them. But no. He has to be a morning person. Just like me.

Only he doesn’t want to get out of bed that early in the morning (between 5 AM and 7 AM). No, he’d rather call “MOMMY!” and have me come running to his room to find out what he wants. Nothing. He just moans on his bed and won’t say a word. He’s awake. After a couple times of him doing this, I don’t bother anymore. And that’s when he decides to get out of bed. Chipper as a springtime bird.

So, that’s what my mornings have become. I don’t get as much work done then, saving it until they are at school and I have peace and quiet again.

There is the occasional day where he does sleep in, but then my daughter, by some miracle, is up early. And it’s usually on a day where she can sleep in, such as a PA Day or holiday. She’s more independent though and will read or watch television until I’m ready to make breakfast.

So, tell me, what time of day do you get stuff done? Are you an early riser, or do you prefer the night?

Crash Landing:

As his ship plummets toward Earth, Cael believes his life to be over. His last ditch effort to save himself ends in a fiery crash. When he wakes up, he believes he’s entered the afterlife, but his surroundings indicate otherwise. He made it to Earth. But who saved him, and what do they want with him?

Now available from Decadent Publishing and other ebook retailers.

More information and Buy Links here: http://www.markofthestars.com/wp/?page_id=10879

Bio:

Jessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from anyone who has enjoyed her stories.

Website/Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

What's in Your Browser History?

By Stephanie Beck

I’m all for saving money. Those who know me know that I tend to be a bit of a spendthrift…though some might confuse my ability to squeeze sighs from a penny for being cheap. A few bills in particular always bite me—namely, phone and internet. Both services are super necessary in my personal and business life, but I still groan and growl every time I open the bill.

With my husband working out of town I’ve been faced with even bigger phone bills and another one for him to have internet access at his work. When he signed up and told me about it I admit I wasn’t happy. I asked why he couldn’t just use the internet through work. He said he got it for me.

I was skeptical and called him out on just wanting high speed whatever, instead of using the landline server through his company. After my protests he told me to bring up the search history on my browser. Light bulbs turned on in my head. The business server is monitored and shared…whatever I would happen to look up through it wouldn’t be very private, and well, it probably should be.

My Browser History:

“What things are dehydrating?”                        

“volumptuous” (because I can never spell it right)

“Popular locations of ghosts.”                            

“how much arsenic to be fatal to 250 lb man”

“Can ghosts have sex?”                                     

“procedures for removing foreign anal object”

“penalty for theft under 10,000 in Spain”         

“best dog breeds for finding buried dead bodies”

“natural body lubricants that taste sweet”       

“best sites for free, well, you know”

Upon looking at the history, I understand why my husband would not want his bosses or anyone else at his company to stumble upon it. Actually, looking at it now makes me shake my head, but honestly, every question had a valid reason to be asked!

So, I will pony up for another internet bill and be grateful when I have to schmooze with my husband’s bosses and supervisors at the Christmas party…though really, it probably would have been the IT people giving me looks over their eggnog anyway.

All the best,

Stephanie Beck

www.stephaniebeck.net

Available Now: Smut Therapy

What’s a cowboy to do when the love of his life puts him on a boot-knocking schedule?

In hopes of having a baby, Jenny sets a strict sex timetable. For Aaron, the zealous plan takes the fun and freedom away from their sex life, leading to stress and irritability on both of their sides.

To make the baby they both want and survive each other’s tempers until that day, Aaron proposes a little smut therapy, but getting Jenny to agree will require more than words.

Buy Smut Therapy HERE

Stephanie Beck is a full time mom, part time writer and ameture speller.

She's been writing since she was fifteen. Her first novel, "Love on the Mats" was a graphic, heartwarming tale of a wrestler and a cutie coed which was lovingly edited by the c-squad basketball team on the long bus rides throughout the season. They were all sure it would be published and it still has a home in a folder...somewhere.

Stephanie Beck loves romance and all things romantic, heart warming and usually funny, though a more serious piece will find its way in occasionally.

In her spare time she knits and sews, walks the dog, plays with her two wonderful daughters and tries to get her husband to act out the naughty things she researches...oh the sacrifices she makes for her craft.

How Childhood Training Ruined Perfectly Good Adults

by Olivia Starke

I’m not someone who can deal with stupid. I don’t condone it nor do I reward it. Yet, for some ever lovin’ reason I’ve chosen to work in retail. And not just retail, mind you, but in retail management which in itself is just plain stupid. Each and every day I interact with people who push my last button, making the term postal seem like a viable option to get through the rest of the day.

 

(This is how I look after every shift.)

The more I’ve observed people, the more I’ve fallen back on my college major of Psychology to try to explain certain actions. And what I’ve gathered from this is that we often fall back on lessons taught in early childhood classrooms.

1)Always put your toys away with the rest of the children’s to avoid a mess. I work in a pretty small store that’s part of a pretty big national retail chain. In my store there are only two registers and one set of doors. I have observed many times when one person leaves their cart in the middle of the walkway to the exit, EVERYONE, will start leaving their carts with it—even though the cart corral is steps away.

Eventually, one last cart will completely block the exit route and you’ll have a completely befuddled school teacher, accountant, administrative assistant, etc. who can’t figure out why they are trapped. They stand and stare, trying to figure out how to get around the obstacle as if some black magic has created it, not once thinking they should simply put the carts away.

I decided long ago to allow this natural selection process play itself out. You know, for the betterment of mankind.

 

(When you’re not looking shopping carts multiply…exponentially.)

2) Line up behind the other children. Most days we have one cashier and one manager on duty. The cashier can only run one register at a time (DUH,) so we’ll have several signs up on the closed register saying—you guessed it—this register is CLOSED. Inevitably you’ll get the person who can’t read and will stand at the closed register, piling their stuff up around the signs despite the line of other people, and cashier, at the open register. And what happens? People will start lining up behind that stupid person. And continue to line up.

 

(Standing in line is the new ‘planking’)

3) Stay to the right, children, when walking down the hallway. One of our doors fell off one day, or more precisely the right side door when entering. Literally fell off the hinges, and in the usual retail rush to make sure everything is in working order for the employees to make life simple, it took over six months to get it fixed.

In the mean time we barricaded the doorwith Uboats full of soda on the outside. Signs plastered on the door it was broken please use other door. And carts, etc. on the inside (seriously we tried everything.) Yet people continued to climb over the obstacles like some Marine bootcamp training, and would come to us and ask if we knew the doorway was blocked. Not once or twice, but continually over the course of month until the dim little light bulb finally clicked on. It’s a small town and we see the same people nearly every day.

 

(Must…buy…Skittles…)

Here you have it, a day in my life. Stay tuned, in future posts I’ll let you know what life is like in the mental hospital I’m surely headed for.

Olivia Starke www.authoroliviastarke.comhttp://romancingthepentoday.blogspot.com

Midnight Madness

 

Maddie takes to camping to forget her two timing ex-boyfriend. Instead of peace and quiet, she stumbles upon two hunks who put the wild in wilderness. And they have plans of their own—to heat up her sexless life. An evening of rowdy lovin’ is just what she needs to get over her broken heart.

When she joins them in a trio that leaves her satisfied and exhausted, they have one more surprise in store called Midnight Madness...