I found Maggie!!!

No, that's not Maggie... That's Peter Decicco, but we'll get back to him later ;O)

In the midst of deadline dementia, something wonderful always happens...right about 2/3rds of the way through the rough draft... Whatever's missing, whatever's not right in what I'm writing and, therefore, slowing me down, starts to work itself out. A ray of understanding begins to shine, if I'm just faithful and keep writing when what I really want to do is throw my laptop against the far wall.

This time around, I'm writing the third in the Daughter series, The Perfect Daughter...Maggie Rivers' story, that is sceduled to be on the shelves next Feb. And while I understood what I wanted to write, something wasn't clicking and it was painful, painful to get through scenes that refused to inspire me...until I hit p. 200 just the other day, and I FOUND MAGGIE!!! The lovely girl sat up and told me exactly what I'd been missing, I have a plan for the last 10 or so scenes of the book, and everything I need to go back and rewrite the first 200 pages to my heart's content.

The kernal of truth I'm starting to trust more and more each time I step off a cliff and begin a new book (particularly now, when I've been given the opportunity to have so many out next year, if only I can stick to the writing and get each one turned in on time), is keep the faith. Believe. And when you can't, fake it 'til you make it. Keep writing, or doing whatever is currently tough for you, knowing that it WILL get better. And usually, quitting has the opposite affect. You're depriving yourself of your ah-ha moment if you give up too soon...stick it out until you can have the success you've dreamed of. It happens for me every time, even though the work gets toughest right before it happens ;O)

Thanks again for hanging in there with my on-again, off-again posting. When friends start threatening to call in the Calvary if you don't respond to their emails, you know you've been away too long. But part of my process is the need to hide when the deadline starts to get tight. The need to refocus on only the writing for a while and shut out the noise of the rest of the world. That was particularly hard this time around, so thanks EVERYONE for being so supportive. I'm trying to answer everyone's emails individually, but if you haven't gotten your reply back don't t hink I've forgotten about you.

Off to get Maggie and her handsome NYPD Detective love interest, Matt Lebretti, ready for their black moment. I've attached a pic. of the model I'd LOVE to have pose as Matt on the cover--Peter Decicco. Not that I have much control over these things, but I thought I'd give you a visual of how incredible Matt is in my head ;O)

Oh, and here's an early quote from NY Times Best Selling author Hawyood Smith for The Prodigal's Return (my July super):

"A wonderful story...that tugs at your heart and leaves you with a satisfied sigh."

More soon!!! Including the latest award I've been nominated for, and website prizes to be awarded by the end of the week!!