Contrary to some published reports, the Marked series is not and has never been a trilogy. That’s important to know for a variety of reasons, so please spread the word! Thank you.

Today kicks off Snippet Saturday, a weekly round-up of snippets from various authors on various topics. Today’s theme is a “defining moment” from one of our stories. Merriam-Webster defines “defining” as “characterize” and so I’ve chosen the following scene from EVE OF DESTRUCTION (Tor Books / June 2), because I think it shows Eve’s character very well. I hope you agree.

Visit the following authors to read more snippets:

I’m in the mood to give something valuable away, so I’ve got two advance reading copies of Jordan Summers’ upcoming SCARLET, Dead World #2 (Tor Paranormal Romance, $6.99; June 2, 2009) up for grabs. If you’d like one, just give a shout out in the comments re: what you liked best about RED, Dead World #1. I’ll pick two winners on Friday.

Good Luck!

** UPDATE **

Winner: Greta

There are times when I feel as if I’m somewhat of a veteran writer. I look at my backlist and numerous publishers, and think I’ve experienced a lot. I write in a variety of genres and lengths. I’ve had three agents and several editors. Haven’t I done just about everything?

Then there are the times when I realize I don’t know much at all. Times when a new experience hits me right between the eyes and I understand that there are facets of this business I haven’t seen yet. Things you can’t prepare for. Things you see coming but you can’t avoid them, even when you try.

For me, the hurdle I tried to leap but tripped over is what writers call “burn out.” It doesn’t happen overnight, but if you keep dipping the quill and not refilling the well… Well, it happens. Maybe not for everyone, but it happened to me. I’ve been dealing with it for a year and a half now. Seems like a long time, doesn’t it? It does to me. But contractually, I couldn’t take any time off. I continued to write.

Oddly enough, I think the books I’ve written while “burned out” are my best work yet. So, what’s the complaint?

Writing is a lot more of a struggle than it used to be. Every day, it became harder and harder to write effectively, and I accomplished less and less. Dehydration. Slow and steady, the pool of creativity grows shallower until it’s completely gone. The joy of writing follows suit and then it’s just torture.

I tried pushing through it. I tried talking to friends about it. I tried approaching it like an obstacle and maneuvering around it. All of that was exhausting and didn’t get me anywhere. Finally, I gave myself permission to stop doing anything. It wasn’t easy. People were disappointed and/or angry. My family budget tightened. I felt guilty for giving myself a break. I felt defensive when prodded by well-meaning friends, as if it was even possible for me to do anything other than rest. (Seriously, there are only so many months that you can try to write and get nowhere before you realize the effort is futile. When the well is dry, stabbing your quill into it only hurts your hand and breaks the nub.)

I knew I was in trouble when I looked into the future without a driving urge to keep my release schedule hopping. I even entertained the thought of never writing again and was strangely okay with that. I just wanted a break. Whatever it took. (Which speaks to how burned out I was. Writers can’t quit forever. That’s like holding your breath until you die.)

Here’s where my inexperience came into play. There was still part of me (the little devil on my shoulder perhaps) that said I was going about the whole “dry well, burn out” scenario wrong. I chastised myself:

• Writers only get burned out only when they seriously f*ed up somewhere, so suck it up and drive on.
• Screw the whiny pity party and get to work.
• This is a business. You don’t have the luxury of waiting for a muse.

Jack London said you can’t wait for inspiration to strike, you have to go after it with a club. Definitely Mr. London knew more than I do.

Then I ran across a post by Neil Gaiman. (Don’t you love when the timing is perfect?) Whatever experience I think I’ve got, Mr. Gaiman has gazillions more of it. And he says:

• Writers and artists aren’t machines.
• I would rather read a good book, from a contented author. I don’t really care what it takes to produce that.
• Some writers need a while to charge their batteries, and then write their books very rapidly. Some writers write a page or so every day, rain or shine. Some writers run out of steam, and need to do whatever it is they happen to do until they’re ready to write again.
• And sometimes, and it’s as true of authors as it is of readers, you have a life.

(There are more gems in the post. I hope you’ll go read it.)

This is a new experience for me — the dry well, the acknowledgment of the burn out, and the acceptance of my individual process to get back to a creative frame of mind. Neil talks about being “young, driven, a borderline workaholic, and very fortunate” and I know that’s been true of me as well. (I have three single titles releasing in June!) But things change. Maybe I’m not so young (in mind and/or body). Maybe I’m less driven. Maybe I ran out of luck. If so, I might be evolving into a new creative process that involves a slower pace and more downtime. Maybe it’s temporary and after awhile, I’ll be recharged and tearing off again. I don’t know. I’m inexperienced in this regard. But someone with experience says there are lots of ways and my way isn’t the wrong way. Makes me feel much better knowing that.

©2009 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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Fantasy Dreamer is celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage month by giving away a copy of EVE OF DARKNESS. If you’d like to enter to win, stop by HERE.

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) is celebrated in May to commemorate the contributions of people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the United States. Congress passed a joint Congressional Resolution in 1978 to commemorate Asian American Heritage Week during the first week of May. This date was chosen because two important anniversaries occurred during this time: the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in America on May 7, 1843 and the completion of the transcontinental railroad (by many Chinese laborers) on May 10, 1869. In 1990 Congress voted to expand it from a week to a month long celebration and in May 1992, the month of May was permanently designated as “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.” – Wikipedia

www.asianpacificheritage.gov

The lovely Karin emailed me with a gentle nudge this morning about missing my MSW post. I’m still sitting here wondering where the last two weeks went! I spent a few days in Florida at the RT Convention, then a few days afterward recovering (lack of sleep coupled with jet lag is a killer!), but after that, all is a blur. I was just about to fall asleep last night when I vaguely remembered an email I’d received last week that needed answering that I hadn’t yet answered. I hopped out of bed and went down to my office to take care of it, because I knew I’d forget otherwise! Such is the state of my mind at the moment. Scattered and kind of slow. Despite this lapse in effectiveness, my brain has suddenly been inundated with story ideas. I don’t know where they came from or what to do with them. I’m wondering if I have to lose all reason to get creative…? Anyway, my post may be a scattered sampling of my brain contents. Could be frightening. (Just sayin’…)

I’ve picked up a lot of books over the last few weeks, all of them by new-to-me authors. I seem to be on a horror kick of some sort, which is interesting. I used to read a lot of supernatural thrillers and horror several years ago, then drifted away from them. Apparently my interest is back in full force, because the heavy box that arrived from BN.com last week was filled with horror and thriller hardcovers. (I was also disappointed that the only death on Harper’s Island was a guy who shot himself in the leg. I must be feeling bloodthirsty lately.) Are you on any sort of reading binge now? Anything really catch your attention the last two weeks?

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo. Since it’s a weekday, we’ll head out to a restaurant for Mexican food. Yum. (Just thinking about it now is making me hungry!) We lost several of our local restaurants to the state of the economy, so I’ll have to do my research to find a new place to go. It’s all about the salsa for me. I judge the restaurant by the quality of the salsa. Fresh and hot are two must-haves. Are you doing anything special for the day? Cooking? Going out? Nada?

A couple things going on web-wise:

• I’m over at the Romantic Times message board for the next two weeks in the Ask The Author forum. I’d love it if you stopped by, even if you don’t have anything to ask.
• Brenda Novak’s Diabetes Auction is going on now and there is a TON of fabulous stuff there. I hope you’ll stop by, check it out, and find something to bid on! If you donated something to the auction, could you list it in the comments?

Happy Monday!

©2009 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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For the next two weeks (May 4-18) I’ll be in the Ask The Author forum of the RT BOOKreviews message boards. Stop by and say hi, if you get a chance!

Tor created some awesome desktop wallpapers for the first three books in the Marked series. If you’d like one, you can pick it up on the Downloads page!

Celebrate the launch of the Marked Series at Mysterious Galaxy’s Sweet Sixteen Birthday Bash! Join S. J. Day, Jim Butcher, Shannon K. Butcher, Alice Henderson, Jeffrey J. Mariotte, Samantha Sommersby, Kris Saknussemm, and more for a fabulous day of authors, books, and cake!