WICKED WEDNESDAYS

I'm back....

Vacation is over. It’s back to work. Everyone faces that reality at some point or many points in life. However, I got to thinking, what is the perfect place for writing. Actually, what got me thinking was the fact that Erika Chase
was lucky enough to be interviewed by Elizabeth Duncan for her blog. It’s posted now at http://www.elizabethjduncan.com/blog.html

One of her questions was just that –If you could choose anywhere in the world to write your next book, where would it be and why?
I said, Sicily, being still in love with that country – the culture and the scenery, although I have to own up, I never tried writing there.

Having just returned from B.C., I did find an idyllic place to write and I made good use of it, too. Another bit of luck – a timeshare on Victoria’s beautiful inner harbour. I’d glance out the patio doors from both bedroom and living room, out onto the water, the ships at anchor, and a well-used path along the seawall. It certainly helped that the weather was ideal, also.

I could have spent my hours just staring at the scenery, and I was tempted. But it also energized me and as I said, I accomplished a lot, which is a good thing because book #3 is due to my editor on June 1st.

This is not a minor task to complete as I’ve been interrupted by the editor’s edits, a cover conference, pre-publicity for book #1, A Killer Read, a wedding in the Dominican Republic, a book launch, a mystery conference in Bethesda, MD, a mystery festival just outside Pittsburgh, my choir concert, and said trip to B.C. Also coming up, on the fated deadline weekend is Bloody Words in Toronto.

But I’ve discovered that’s a writer’s life. Just when you think you might have a breather (and an actual life), in role the emails and more work appears.

I have also toyed with the idea that next year when I return, it would be great to hook up with a writers' shared office space co-op or some such arrangement. If you know of one, please let me know.

So, thinking about the idyllic place to write is like those mini-vacations I’d hear about at staff development days when I had a regular job. Just sit back, close your eyes, and picture the spot. I’m back in that timeshare. Now that I’ve set the scene…maybe the work will continue to flow.

Maybe.

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase

A KILLER READ
Berkley Prime Crime, now available
READ & BURIED, coming Dec., 2012
www.erikachase.com

WICKED WEDNESDAYS

Back to reality!

After a week's vacation in a land where there is green grass instead of mounds of white snow, it's difficult to get back into the swing of things. I look out the window expecting to see palm trees and instead see my bare-branched maples. And snow. Which can be attractive on a sunny day, which it isn't.

If I had a regular job again, I'd be at my desk and back into the routine. With writing as my new job, I could be doing the same. But, this writing job comes with attachments. Check my email -- I'm waiting for some guest blogs to appear. Check in with Facebook -- there's a lot of promoting that's going on there, along with keeping in touch with friends. Design a new business card. Again. Still haven't got it right. Find a flight to Washington, D.C. for the Malice Domestic mystery conference at the end of April. But that requires other decisions being made before booking arrangements can be made. All of these tasks are in the name of being a mystery writer.

Oh, did I forget breakfast again?

Now, it's finally time to write. I view writing a blog as the morning warm-up exercise. Get the brain moving and hopefully, it will glide into creating. Writing my daily goal of pages for the new book comes next. I've tasked parts of my brain with working out plot points while taking my early morning walk. Now, we'll see if that's actually worked.

It's exciting stepping into the other world of writing a book. You're living in a different city, in a different skin, with different concerns for several hours each day. You start liking the folks who live there and get totally drawn into their lives. Sometimes, it's hard to leave them when that other life, the real one, intrudes again. Like, with a dentist appointment or such.

But it's also hard getting back to regular routines after a vacation. You just do it. And, perhaps write about it.

Does anyone else find it hard coming back to reality...whatever the reason?


Linda Wiken/Erika Chase