Sorry to be behind with my Monday post! I left for Houston early Friday morning and came home late last night on a delayed flight. By the time I got one of my kids to school (late) this morning and settled down to draft my post, it was 10 AM here in California (and later in the day for those of you on the East Coast.)

As Sharon Sala and I were heading over to the hotel from the airport, we laughed at how we’d both once thought that being a writer meant we’d be able to write all day in our pjs. Who knew we’d be expected to be seen and heard so often?

“Writers should be read but not seen.” – Edna Ferber

“Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard.” – Daphne de Maurier

Hmm… I thought that was the way this writing gig worked back when I didn’t know the writing gig at all. It was reassuring to hear another writer say that she, too, thought authors were mostly invisible entities. Embossed names on a cover and a picture on the back flap, but not much more than that.

But even though the amount of traveling I do far exceeds my long-ago fantasies of what it would be like to write for a living, I’m not complaining because I find face-to-face time with readers, writer friends, and industry professionals to be so valuable. I learn so much about what my readers enjoy, what I did that pissed them off, what they’d love to see next (characters, storylines, settings, time periods). I brainstorm with friends and talk strategy with the pros. I’d miss out on so much if I didn’t travel as much as I do (I’m away from home several weeks a year). I have yet to return from an event where I didn’t think, “It was worth the trip.” (and that’s really good, since I have to publish this post then finalize travel arrangements for two trips in March and another in April…)

Still, it’s good to be home! I’m getting ready to open a new document and start my next historical romance. I’ve been thinking about it for a couple weeks now, and it’s time to get some words on the page. I’m excited! It’s an idea that I think is just so delicious, that I’m hoping I pull it off. *g* Plus… I have a couple books to read for quotes and a lovely, lovely stack of RITA books. I’m soooo excited about digging into those. So, despite being tired from the trip, I’m ready to jump into the week.

How about you? What’s on your agenda this week? Anything you’re excited to tackle?

©2010 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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For the last month, I’ve been working on a new paranormal romance series proposal. Two months ago, I was pretty certain it would take until spring, maybe summer before I could even begin to start thinking of a new series. The world-building involved is time consuming and arduous. It is a labor of love and an investment. I have to create something solid, then I have to love it enough to make it real and chance not selling it.

It’s the loving part that makes the work involved worthwhile. It is also what creates the risk. Will an editor love it? Will readers? Will I be able to complete the world? And biggest of all: Will I be able to do it justice?

The latter question has become very important to me over the last two years of my career. I started out by writing what I loved to read. From there, I began putting my own twists into storylines that I enjoyed and writing what I wanted to read but couldn’t find. All the while, I seriously challenged my characters, really ran them through the wringer. But I came to realize that I wasn’t seriously challenging myself. I was writing what I was good at and what I was comfortable with. There’s a lot to be said for going that route. It was a damn sight less stressful for me, for sure. It was also limiting. I reached the conclusion that I needed to start tackling ideas that were too big for me.

Will I be able to do it justice? If I wasn’t doubtful about the answer to that question, I put the idea aside. I knew I had to do something bigger, greater, more if I wanted to be a better writer and stronger entertainer (and keep my career growing). When I tackled my first over-my-head project, I sat down with the editor who bought it and said, “I’m going to need all the support I can get with this. I’m pretty sure it’s bigger than me.” (And God bless editors who love challenges like that. They’re worth their weight in gold.)

And now, it seems, I’m really addicted to that fear of inadequacy. There’s something oddly delicious about tackling a story idea that’s so big/involved/unfamiliar it scares the crap out of you. Something crazily exhilarating about sitting down at the keyboard and thinking, “I know what has to happen, but can I pull it off?” I’ve had moments where I am absolutely positive I’m in over my head. Fortunately, those usually come in the wee hours of the morning when I’m exhausted and when I wake up, I have forgotten how panicked I was the night before.

So I’ve spent almost a month working on this new proposal, with plenty of “What the hell am I hoping to get myself into?” moments. It’s exciting and daunting and frightening. I love the concept and the world. I know in the right hands, it could be something awesome. I’m not sure I have those hands, which is why I started the story. I just hope I can do it justice.

©2010 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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