I'm in Back-Up Mode.

~~Vonnie Davis

Yup, I'm in backing up mode or I may have ADD. I can't decide which. And if I tell you, you're only going to shake your head and think my goodness, this woman can't finish anything! But it's how I work. Honest! Although I have to admit, it's never been quite this bad...but there are reasons...really, there are.

I was writing the first book of a new bear shifter series for LoveSwept when the editor at Random House asked to see the first two chapters to make sure I hadn't used any humor. I hadn't. Instead, she chewed me out for having other characters beside the heroine and hero. It was the beginning of the end of my time with LoveSwept. We parted on good terms and I smirk as I write that.

I asked some specific questions as to what I could and couldn't write on previously contracted projects with them. Had it put in writing and I was off on my own.

Well, since LoveSwept's ownership time was up on the Highlander's Beloved series, I could write as many episodes of it as I wanted. Readers of the series were emailing me, asking for more of Effie. So I backed up--leaving Kendric: Shifters of Sonas Isle--to give Effie one more episode as well as slide more smoothly into this new Sonas Isle series. My street team named this new book The Doctor's Bearside Manner. I should know better than to ask those ladies. They're a trip.

On our way home from our granddaughter's wedding last June,  our flight was delayed causing us to spend the night in a hotel. A storyline sprang from that. The first four chapters tumbled out before I could stop them, so I backed away from Effie's last story to work on MR. OH. I did finish that book. But--and there's always a but, isn't there?--it was much spicier than I normally write. My characters took me into the world of BDSM and I tried my best to make the journey humorous.

But what of my readers who auto-buy my books and don't care for this topic? They're going to be upset. I can't have that. So I invented a pen name, Renae DeVeau, and set up an online presence for her identity. An editor at TWRP loved MR. OH and we're waiting on final approval.

I was concerned I hadn't had a release since Christmas, so I revamped a book I'd gotten the rights back to: Mona Lisa's Room. I changed the head of the terrorist group, added more humor, and updated technology used. It's now NIKO: Licensed to Kill part of the Paris Intrigue series. The lady who does my book covers and formatting said it would be easier time-wise for her if I had two. Okay, I'll work on book two of the series, I told her.

While revamping NIKO, I couldn't help but notice how stronger my writing was five years ago. What in the world had happened? I was slipping, not getting stronger. Was it my editor's demands or me? I dropped into a major self-doubt mode. I needed a project to work on, to hone my skills.

So, I backed up to a writing prompt I'd done years ago that I thought would make a good book. The Golden Charm sprang to life. I was on chapter eleven when...

Amazon contacted me about writing for Kindle Worlds. So I backed away from the Golden Charm and began A Stranger's Dare.

I'd just written the first sex scene when it occurred to me I'd forgotten about revamping book two of the Paris Intrigue series. So I backed up to what was once Rain is a Love Song to what is now--JEAN-LUC: Once is Never Enough. Then I'll be able to get it and NIKO off to my formatter because I really do need a new book out there. I've only got eighty more pages to go to bring JEAN-LUC up to date.

Then back to A Stranger's Dare. I have until the middle of June to finish it. So, I'll be fine. Unless something shiny flies by and catches my attention. Remember: I'm creative...not necessarily sane.

Follow me on www.vonniedavis.com or www.renaedeveau.com 

Sometimes Possibilities Require Defined Priorities by Vonnie Davis

The last time I blogged, I'd shared my agent was "shopping out" a Christmas short story to Carina. I was hoping I could move to a larger publisher. Well folks, it won't be Carina. They passed. It happens. Right?

Agent Lady swiftly jumped onto Plan B. In fact she had the story emailed to our list of previously agreed upon publishers before I had a chance to say, "Maybe I better work on it some more." She claimed she moved so swiftly because she knew I would do exactly that.

But rejection brings changes, not just by switching to plan B, but also to the way we perceive our accomplishments and abilities. Self-doubt comes knocking at our doors. This time the pointy-headed sprite brought along a three-piece set of luggage when she rang our doorbell. I should have kicked her to the curb...but I didn't.

As a result I've been asking a question many authors ask themselves from time-to-time: Why am I writing?

.I've worked through the Pity Party for One. Moved onto step-two and questioned my writing abilities, all the while repeating the question. Why am I writing? Do I do it for the money? No. Do I do it to make a name for myself? Well, being known as a good writer would be nice. That's why I enter contests and pay close attention to my reviews. Perhaps I write to please my readers, then? To a degree, yes. Or, do I write to fulfil a deeper need? 

 

Then again, perhaps I'm asking the wrong question. Perhaps the question needs to be how would I survive if I didn't write?

 

Frankly I think my soul would dry-up. My brain would sour with a type of madness. And my heart would turn brittle and break. Simply put, I need to write. And I need to do it for me. This is my priority. Before I can comprehend all the possibilities, I must embrace my own priorities, my dreams. I leave you with a quote by the poet, Langston Hughes: "Hold fast to dreams. For if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly."

 

What are your priorities?

 

Vonnie Davis writes most sub-genres of romance. Her characters reveal themselves to her and demand to be heard. Visit Vonnie at www.vonniedavis.com .