Year of the Geek

Happy New Year! A little bit belated, but it was a busy start to the year. If that's a sign what 2020 is bringing me, I do hope it's a very productive kind of busy!

This year, I'm skipping the writing goals. I'm going to be kind to myself. I had a rough 2019. My productivity was near nil. Lots going on outside of my writing life distracted me, and my muse had dug in her heels with what I wanted to write. After a lot of inner reflection, I realized it was because of my frustrations with certain tropes and subgenres in romance that were holding me back. Yet I wanted to stick it out and push forward, but I couldn't. My muse was offended and refused to work.

So I'm stepping back from writing strictly romance. In fact, I'm going to not write to market anymore. I'm going to write the silly stories that I enjoy. Once I finally accepted this, much of my anxiety lifted and my muse started gleefully playing around with story ideas again.

I've started researching and creating ideas for a LitRPG novel. What's LitRPG? It's fiction based on a game becoming reality for the protagonist. The most popular example is Jumanji. People get sucked into a game world and must complete the objectives to be free. The game mechanics must be very clear and real life must mesh with fantasy life. My mojo is flowing again. And I'm having fun. I missed having fun when it comes to writing.

I'm also playing around with cozy mystery ideas. Something geeky. Yes, 2020 is going to be the year to celebrate the geek in me. I even got a tattoo on New Year's Eve to commemorate it!

( I do realize it's upside down!)

What will this year be for you?

#IWSG for February 2019

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

This month's awesome co-hosts are: Raimey Gallant, Natalie Aguirre, CV Grehan, and Michelle Wallace!

This month's optional question: Besides writing, what other creative outlets do you have?

Currently the other main outlet I have is playing Dungeons & Dragons with my friends. I've been the acting Dungeon Master (DM) for a while now running The Rise of Tiamat campaign. We're nearly at the end! I've used a lot of different things to help me in my position as the DM. I've used puppets for council meetings and perler bead dragons when the heroes were conferring with the metallic dragons. I write little notes and tie them with ribbons. Yesterday I wrote a speech one of the non-player characters would share with one of the heroes. It was 2,000 words!

This month's insecurities: Perhaps prepping all that gaming stuff might be why I haven't done much writing otherwise. But I'm having great fun with it. I figure as long as I'm writing something, it's okay. Just keep the mojo flowing. And even as I say it, I feel guilty. I can't erase that feeling completely.

I've been doing better exercising and eating. I'm almost done a new cover for The 13th Floor Complete Collection. I've been doing a lot of things other than writing my WIP. I tell myself it's okay, but part of me doesn't believe it yet. I need to do it all! I don't, really. But you know how over-ambitious muses can be...