A CHILLY RECEPTION

The sun creeps over the horizon.
It sneaks up behind me like a naughty child with a garden hose. Ready to spray me.
Afraid.
Yet with bravado.
"See." he says.
"See what I have done!"
"See what I can do?"
And it's morning.

7 am and 70 degrees. My nose is cold. My two muses are curled into tight periods. No stretched out commas this morning.
There is DEW on my deck! We only get dew when it is COLD!
It's cold to me.
I am still in my flannel pajamas like HOLLY KENNEDY.
I got a chilly reception at a writing message board (NOT AW).
MAPRILYN got one not so long ago, too.
We were just trying to help new writers.
We still do.
But.
That was then and this is now.
It's time to move on.
Any of you with query - synopsis - publishing - journey questions please feel very free to place them in the comments section or email them to me. No problem.
My blog entries now are going to focus more and more on the process. Of creating a story more than just your mother is willing to read.
Writing for more than just yourself.
As for me?
I have two stories pulling me in half.
One is written and needs more editing. It is what I would consider women's fiction but with a slightly broader appeal.
The other is barely started but the character won't leave me alone. He wants to be next. His grasping hands tug at my neck. My shoulder. "Do me!" he says. "Do me, next!"
It's all Holly's fault.
She is going through the same thing. Her third novel is near completion. She is organized. Determined.
But there is this character. This story that does not to want wait. It wants to cut ahead in line.
The original story gets pissed.
"Wait your turn!" it says. "Wait like all the rest of us did!"
"But...But...But." The new story blusters and sputters trying to justify its rude behavior.
"What's wrong with you?" the nice story says. It is trying to be reasonable. Reach a compromise.
"You think you're special or something?"
Ah.
That's just it.
It does.
It does think it's special.
And you know it too, deep down inside.
You know, too.
So you do.
You do compromise.
Maybe just a few words today. A scene. A chapter.
You get sucked in.
And Perry speaks in my ear softly.
"That is so totally cool," he says.
So totally cool.