Thursday's Hero - Neal from The Doctor's Dilemma #MFRWauthor #Suspense

Neal McKay put the last suture in the jagged cut on his patient’s calf. He stripped off his gloves and stepped back from the table. He glanced at the clock. Nearly three PM. He should have been home an hour ago, but the day hadn’t gone as planned. As the only doctor in town, this was the norm.     

            As usual, his day off had been filled with emergencies. A fractured tibia, a case of congestive heart failure, an acute allergy attack and now this.

            They -- his wards -- should be at the house. He groaned and felt no more prepared for parenthood than he’d been the day he’d learned about his foster sister’s death -- a week after her funeral. Even if he’d known, he wouldn’t have been able to leave his patients to attend the service.

            He groaned. The thought of being responsible for the twins’ care brought waves of insecurity. None of his experiences in the past had prepared him for this day.

            “Do you want to do the dressing?”

            Neal looked at the red-haired nurse. “He’s all yours.”

            “Thanks, buddy. I owe you one.” Jack Gardner glared.

            “If you’re talking about the patch job, just doing my thing.” Jack’s reaction made Neal chuckle. In college, they’d spent hours one-upping each other. He missed the days when they’d been like brothers.

            Jack raised an eyebrow. “Is there a problem you need solved?”

            “You might say that.”

            “I’m not sure I’m qualified.”

            “I don’t know about that.” Neal watched Patty Sue Crawford’s gaze center on his friend. He grinned. Maybe today was the turning point. Since his arrival in Prairie ten months before, she’d pursued him like a wrangler after a runaway steer.

            “Can I go back to the ranch?’ Jack asked.

            Neal frowned. “Only if you promise to avoid horses and cattle until the stitches are out.”

            “How long?”

            “A week.”

            “I can do that.”

            Neal doubted the truth of the statement. Since Jack’s return to the ranch last month, he seemed bent on proving he was Cowboy of the Year.

            “I’d rather admit you for the night. Give you some intravenous antibiotics and injections for pain. Once the local wears off, you’re going to know you’ve been hurt.”

            Jack slid to the edge of the table. “No hospital. What if I stay at my grandmother’s?”

            “Might work, especially after I tell Miss Hattie to tie you to the bed. Your injury is nothing to take lightly.”

            Jack laughed. “Grandmother will see that I obey orders. She should have been a general. You coming to the barbecue Saturday?”

            “I wouldn’t miss it,” Patty Sue said.

            Jack looked away. “Honey, your presence is a given. I meant Doc here.”

            Neal shrugged. “I’ll see how things go. My wards arrive today. I’ll probably be too busy learning how to be a daddy.”

            “I can’t imagine you with a pair of doggies.”

            Neither could Neal, but he wasn’t about to admit it. “I don’t have a choice.”

            “Guess not. I kind of envy you. You’ve achieved fatherhood without the M word.” Jack chuckled. “Bring the doggies with you. The ladies will love them.” He shook his head. “Never thought you’d be saddled with kids. They’ll make big changes in your life.”

            Patty Sue opened a dressing kit. “I think Neal -- Dr. McKay will be a wonderful father.”

            How did she manage to make a deliberate slip of the tongue seem natural?  “Thank you, Ms. Crawford. See that Jack has a copy of the discharge instructions and make an appointment for Friday.” He waved to Jack. “I’ll call the prescriptions to the pharmacy and have them delivered to Miss Hattie’s.”

            “See you and the doggies Saturday,” Jack called. “I’m sure Grandmother expects to see you there.”

            Neal nodded. He’d be at the barbecue with the twins or Miss Hattie would come for him. The town’s matriarch was used to having her way.

            He strode down the hall to his office. Parties at the Gardner mansion were events to be experienced, but he wasn’t sure he could handle an evening of listening to the benefits of life in Prairie.

            He had to go -- home. But there were things he had to complete before he left. He welcomed the delay in facing this new responsibility and sat at his desk to phone the drugstore and write a note on Jack’s chart.

            Home -- the twins -- his legacy. He groaned. Jack was right.

            Two babies would force changes in his lifestyle that he wasn’t ready to make. He wasn’t even sure where to begin.

            Instead of heading home, he reached for a stack of letters he’d received in response to his queries about another temporary position. The time to move had come. A year was long enough to stay in one place.

            But he had a family now. His choice of where to head next had to include them.  How could he make a home for the twins?  He’d been raised as a foster child in a series of placements. A football scholarship had allowed him to escape the last foster home where he’d endured three years of being treated as an outsider. He slammed up barriers against the memories of those days.

            Those memories brought no answers to his current dilemma. His lifestyle didn’t lend itself to an instant family. The longest he’d stayed in one place had been the four years in college and the same amount in medical school. Every time he considered staying in one place, his anxiety level peaked.

            He shoved the letters in a drawer and left the office. He’d do his best for Sherri’s babies but he couldn’t promise them a stable life and a real family. With this thought firmly in place, he left the clinic and jogged down the street toward his rented house to face his foster sister’s attempt to turn him into a family man.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - More on Series - Connecting the books #MFRWauthor #Suspense #BooksWeLove

Whether there's a group of characters, a kind of plot or a particular setting when you're writing a series, letting the reader know there are other books they should read is a good idea. Sometimes when there's a trilogy a reader must read the first book before they read the second one in that series. So this is an easy thing to do, Just make sure you have Book 2 or 3 or 4 on the cover of the book or in your blurb.

There are other ways to do this particularly if there are books that rather stand alone but are part of a series. You could put a little forward in the book letting the reader know what went on in the other books of the series. This might work but it this is too long, the reader won't read past a few pages. I read a forward once that was setting up a book that wasn't part of the series but contained the back story of the half dozen main characters. I skipped that part and I don't think I missed it.

One way to bring attention to your other books in a series is to give hints about what went on before during the story but don't make them long. A character can see something that reminds him or her of what happened in the last book. There could be a conversation between two characters to give the information. Often the mention of a place used in a previous book will bring a hint to the reader there is a connection.

The purpose of these hints is to interest the reader in your other books in the series. So find a way to connect the stories and you'll maybe win a new reader or more.

Tuesday's Inspiration - A Writer Rearranges #MFRWauthor @}#Suspense #BooksWeLove

 Just what does this mean? A writer rearranges. When writing a writer has to depend on what he or she knows. Now this doesn't men as a writer we can't write about anything. There are certain things you know. If you've never experienced grief, you'll have a hard time writing about a grieving character. What you do as a writer is take the things you've experienced emotionally and apply them to the characters you create.

Now I write a lot of fight scenes in my books. I've spent some time learning how to fence so swords and sword fighting often have a place when I write fantasy. But when I write these scenes I can recall the moves but it's the emotions that play a real part in making the scene seem real. The same goes for love scenes, for murders and for many other kind of scenes in a book. What the writer has to do is rearrange these events and plug in the emotions they remember. Not only what they remember but the things that happen around them every day and in the world where they live.

I could write about strikes since I grew up in a home where strikes effected our way of life. I can also write about war, not from first hand experience but from my memories of WWIIm Korea, Vietnam but I might not write about these wars but put the war on another world.

So a writer rearranges what he knows and casts it into a story, plugging in the emotions he believes his characters will experience. Emotions that he or she has felt,

Meandering On Monday With Janet Lane Walters #MFRWauthor #Suspense

Meander 1 - I'd like to thank John Cullen of Clocktower books for making life so easy in getting my single book back. I have tried for other books and some publishers make life simply horrendous wanting me to sign papers saying I won't speak about this to anyone, I enjoyed being the only romance writer among a group of science fiction writers, but nothing moved on the book for over a year so the time had come. I sent John an email. He said no problem. Just let me know you want to do this. I wrote back saying go ahead. In less than four hours in all places where the book had been for sale, they were down. Took three months with another publisher and I had to write and remind the person in charge. So here's a salute to John. It's been a long and interesting time with his company.

Meander 2 - Tried an experiment with my blog and found it interesting. As for visits they were down. One thing I did differently was not to post on all the groups I'm a member of. The other thing was the featured person did little to nothing that I could see about promoting. The odd thing is the people who promote their times on my blog certainly get more hits. So if someone welcomes you to their blog, promote it frequently and go to visit amd make comments, or at least a thanks for having me.

Meander 3 - Am doing the final cleanup of Toth's Priest. Will take me most of this week to accomplish that. Then I must do the bit to submit the book to the publisher. Then on to cleaning up the book I got back and making sure the book is up to date. Things do change over the years, Feels good to finish one and know I have two projects waiting in line to appear.

Sunday's My Series A Surprising Seduction #MFRWauthor #Suspense

A Surprising Seduction is the fifth story in the Seduction Series,  Loren attends the funeral of her sister and brother-in-law. She has been named co-guardian along with her brother-in-law's brother, Tony. Lauren had a troubled past after her parents died and living in a foster home turned her into a runaway. Her sister, a college student was unable to keep her. By now, Lauren ahs grown up and has changed from the rebellious teenager she'd been. Tony met her once during that troubled time and he was attracted but really didn't like her. Now they will be forced by circumstances to unite in the care of this small child.

Tony is an attorney and comes from a wealthy background. He decides he should become the child's sole guardian. Lauren disagrees. Once she finished her degree and becomes an occupational therapist, she'll be able to care for her nephew.

Sparks fly between them. Tony feels the old attraction but can this player settle down with one woman and better still can he convince Lauren not only she has changed but so has he.

Saturday's Blurbs - Books by Charmaine Gordon

To Be Continued

Series: Women Who Survive and Thrive by Charmaine Gordon, Book 1

Elizabeth Malone wakes up the morning after an amazing night of passion with her husband of forty years to find a note: Dear Lizzie, it’s not you, it’s me. Abandoned by her husband, disappointed in daughter Susie’s casual attitude Dad’s having a mid-life crisis, Beth decides to re-establish herself as the winner she once was. When Frank Malone returns, he’s in for a big surprise!
PRINT – http://www.amazon.com/To-Be-Continued-Charmaine-Gordon/dp/1935407430
Kindle – http://www.amazon.com/To-Be-Continued-ebook/dp/B0030IM65G
AllRomance Ebooks – https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-tobecontinued-395548-149.html
Smashwords for All Ereaders – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7283

Amazon | Apple | B&N   

Farewell, Hello by Charmaine Gordon That first kiss... that first incredible, agonizing, bellyache-making first kiss. Soon, Joy and Danny are inseparable, planning a future – a life, together. A kiss goodbye couldn’t prepare the high school sweethearts for all that lay ahead. A family crisis, a tornado, and the Korean War brought their plans to a screeching halt, and changed their futures... but maybe not their forever.

 Amazon | Apple | B&N   

Now What?

Series: Women Who Survive and Thrive by Charmaine Gordon, Book 3

I held his cooling hand and asked the two words spoken many times during our years together. “Now what?” This time there was no response. I was on my own for the first time. When my fingers touched his wedding ring, I slipped it off and held it in my fist. The gold band was warm. I clung to him. “Come back to me, dearest.” Sometimes what you wish for is more than you can live with.

AMAZON   B&N   OMNILIT PDF

INSTANT DOWNLOAD SPECIAL

KINDLE   SMASHWORDS MULTIFORMAT

http://www.amazon.com/Now-What-Charmaine-Gordon/dp/193540797X

Reconstructing Charlie

Series: Women Who Survive and Thrive by Charmaine Gordon, Book 4

Charlie’s Family Secrets, Book 1

Charlie Costigan has a secret. Home life gone from bad to the worst when she protects her mother from another vicious attack by her drunken father. Midnight. Clothes thrown into an old suitcase, she races for the bus with a letter to an unknown aunt and uncle. “This is my daughter. Embrace her as if she were your own.” Determined, Charlie begins again. Alone with her secret.

 Sin of Omission

Series: Women Who Survive and Thrive by Charmaine Gordon, Book 5

Charlie’s Family Secrets, Book 2

A twist of fate intervenes when Shelley keeps a secret that threatens to break apart the Costigans and her future. A mysterious client, Deanna Rose, enters Haven, victim of a savage beating under strange circumstances. Shelley investigate and finds Ms. Rose has an unsavory past. With the reputation and safety of Haven at stake, Shelley is at risk to lose everything and everyone she cares about.
http://www.amazon.com/Sin-of-Omission-ebook/dp/B007XA9V2I

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinofomission-784842-149.html

The Catch
Series: Women Who Survive and Thrive by Charmaine Gordon, Book 6

Charlie’s Family Secrets, Book 3

Tom Donnelly, once known as The Catch – every woman’s dream guy, has fallen down every rung of the ladder he once worked so hard to climb. On New Year’s Day, he realizes just how far he’s fallen, and makes a list of resolutions to change his life. He vows to regain the trust lost from his family, his law firm, and his friends – and maybe even find the right woman this time.

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thecatch-1145585-152.html

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/295820

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0615792545

http://www.amazon.com/The-Catch-ebook/dp/B00BUGFI2I

Friday's Guest - Charmaine Gordon with Heroes, heroines and villains #MFRWauthor #Suspense

1.      Do you write a single genre or do your fingers flow over the keys creating tales in many forms? Does your reading choices reflect your writing choices? Are there genres you wouldn’t attempt?

When I began writing about five years ago, I didn’t know about genres. A story came to me about  a woman whose husband walked out after forty years of marriage and she didn’t know how to put herself together again. Survive and Thrive became a theme for a while; romance with suspense in contemporary times. Titled To Be Continued refers to the heroines life

2.       I love them all. My daughter once told me to write a heroine readers will love and I listened. Then the heroine eventually longed for a hero. I wrote him in. You taught me about conflict and I’m still learning. Early on I discovered a villain and loved writing him into the story. What a thrill diving into his devious mind to watch him in an attempt to destroy lives.  Perhaps evil lurks in my heart to write such characters every so often in the midst of romance..

3.     Heroines and hero’s: Imagination is the key to all my characters. I see them, know their names, how they walk and talk and let the story play out scene for scene.

4 Villains or villainesses or an antagonist, since they don’t always have to be the bad guy or girl. They can be a person opposed to the hero’s or heroine’s obtaining their goal. How do you choose one? How do you make them human? In Sin of Omission, flying by the seat of my pants as I always do, I ended up with a male and female bad person. The man had mental problems; the hero eventually lassoed him as he came close to his goal of destruction. And then a woman, involved in porn, came to Haven as to a temporary sanctuary. Former companions tracked her down, a shootout ensued and The End. All in the midst of romance and a struggle for love.

6. What is your latest release? Who is the hero, heroine and or the villain? Farewell, Hello is the title of a recent release. Innocence in 1948 when Joy Davison and Danny Wilson, high school sweethearts, fall in love. He leaves for pilot training in San Antonio, Texas and all hell breaks loose. Tune in for the further adventures of what happens next.

7. What are you working on now?

Housebroken is the title. No, it’s not about a dog. The story deals with empty nest syndrome and how a long married couple begin life with just the two of them in a smaller house in a friendly town. You know me, Janet. I write fast. Housebroken was released a few weeks ago and now I’m writing book 2 in this series. No title as yet. The friendly town is River’s Edge upstate NY about thirty miles north of Rockland County.

 8. How can people find you?

            Website http://authorCharmaineGordon.wordpress.com

            Blog: as above

            Twitter: @CharJGordon

            Facebook: page  http://www.facebook.com/charmaine.gordon

Thursday's Hero - Jay from Melodic Dreams by Janet Lane Walters #MFRWauthor #Suspense

Jay stared at the woman on his doorstep. For an instant he thought his dead wife had risen like a wraith to disturb his peace. Selfish, ego-entered and a thief. Delores had stormed off like a tornado ripping his emotions to shreds. His hands clenched sending arrows of pain up his arms.

“What do you want?” The sharpness of his voice made him step back.

“Don’t like him. He’s sour.”

The piping voice of the young boy diverted his attention from the look-alike. Was this woman attempting to pass off the boy as his? He knew the truth. Months after Delores’ departure and realizing she wouldn’t return, he’d sent a private detective to find her. He’d intended to present her with divorce papers. He had the report of her accident and death.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

“Maria Russo.” She pulled the boy forward. “This is Jamie, your son.”

Did she think he would fall for her line? Was she pushing her child as the baby Delores had aborted? There’d been no mention of a child in the report Amos Black had delivered. All there’d been was the article and a death notice from a small town newspaper. Delores had been the only fatality.

Jay rubbed his right hand with his left. By the time he’d read the report he’d been drunk. The scanty information had confirmed she’d had the abortion. No way was this child his.

The boy raised his head. Jay grasped the door frame. Eyes as green as the ones he saw every morning met his. This had to be a trick.

The young woman kept her hands on the boy’s shoulders. “Jamie, no tears. It will be all right.”

“He’s mean. I don’t want a mean dad.”

“We’ve surprised him. Remember what we talked about during our trip here?”

The child toed the stone landing. “Maybe he didn’t know about me.”

“That’s right.”

And true, Jay thought. He drew a deep breath. Though the boy had the eyes and seemed the right age, this Maria was Delores’ sister. She could have known about his eyes. He couldn’t commit himself until he knew more.

“What do you want?”

She met his gaze. “To talk.”

Her eyes weren’t the ebony ones he remembered. Flecks of gold made them appear to be dark honey. Her stance, though stiff, the way she held the boy, made her vulnerable. “Yes, let’s do that. I’m not convinced but the reports I saw contained no details.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You didn’t see much then.” She raised a folder. “I wouldn’t be here if there was no need.”

Her words held a ring of truth. “You have proof?”

“Yes.”

He moved out of the doorway and gestured. As she entered, he noticed how her gaze roamed the foyer and glanced at the shrouded furniture in the living and dining rooms. Doing an appraisal? The question remained unasked. He strode down the hall past the front staircase toward the kitchen.

After placing the folder on the table, Maria pulled a red truck and a top from her huge bag. “Jamie, go play while I speak to your father.”

“Okay.” He pressed his nose against the screen door. “Can I go outside? I like the flowers. There are more than in Nana’s garden. Oh, there’s the cat.”

“You can see the garden but stay where I can see you.” She turned to Jay. “Is the cat wild?”

Jay shook his head. “Shadow’s tame and shy.”

Maria turned her chair so she could see into the garden. The boy stepped outside and sat on the ground and spun the top. Tinkling noises played a simple song.

Jay sat across the table. “If you’re after money, forget it.”

Her back straightened. “ Two weeks from today I start work at Fern Lake General.”

Jay tilted his head and studied her expression. “What does that have to do with me?” He scowled. “Where did you find the boy?”

Her dark amber eyes glinted with anger. “At Branley Hospital where the doctor’s took him from my sister’s dying body.”

She was good. Her low voice remained steady. That was the hospital mentioned in the investigator’s report.

Delores’ angry thereat rose in his thoughts. “I’m getting rid of this thing and filing for a divorce. I’ll take you for all I can get.” The sultry voice that had enchanted him had turned harridan harsh.

He propped his elbows on the table. “Do you expect me to believe your story?” His doubt centered on the child’s resemblance to Delores and Maria. Except for the eyes.

“It’s the truth.”

The fire in her eyes raised a heat he couldn’t deny. He clamped his lips in a tight line. No way would another Russo woman play him for a fool.

She pulled papers from the folder and slid then across the table. “Marriage certificate, birth certificate, a copy of the hospital records and one of the police report. Check them out and note the dates.”

Jay glanced at the papers. They seemed legit but a good con artist would know how to obtain forgeries. “What do you want? Do you plan to go to court and sue me for child support?”

As she shook her head, her dark curls bounced. “I want nothing from you except the money to pay for Jamie’s pre-school so I can work to support us.”

“What did you do during the past four years?”

Sadness flared in her eyes. “Until three months ago, my mother watched him while I completed my Master’s and worked part-time.”

Jay tapped the birth certificate. “Father unknown. Why wasn’t I informed about his birth?” Knowing he had a son and caring for him might have kept him from escaping into alcohol and wandering the country. This had to be a scam. If he agreed to pay for pre-school, what would she ask for next?

She leaned forward. “My mother believed the stories Delores spouted about your vicious temper. She thought you didn’t deserve to know about the baby, especially when you had ordered Delores to have an abortion.”

“What?” Anger flared and brought an urge to yell. He pressed his hands against the table. Pain shot from his fingers along his wrist and his arm. “No way in hell. Your sister didn’t want a child. The thereat was hers.”

Maria edged back. “After Mama died we had to sell the house. I found Maria’s suitcase in the attic where the marriage certificate and some other papers had been stored. I began to doubt her stories so I looked you up and I located the other papers I’ve given you.”

Was she telling the truth? The possibility shook him. He needed time to think this thorough. “I’m a busy man and I have no idea how to raise a child.”

Her hands fisted. “I don’t expect you to physically have anything to do with Jamie’s care. Just a good pre-school with aftercare. I’ll even vet them.” She walked to the door. “Spending time with your son would be nice for him but the choice is yours.”

Though Jay wanted to deny the possibility of paternity what Maria said about the boy could be true. Wrapping his thoughts around the possibility stunned him. He had to call Amos Black and have the man check her story. He didn’t have time for this emotional barrage.

Marriage had meant family until Delores. He’d wanted a different family from the one he’d experienced as a child. No father pushing for his children to follow him on the concert stage. No mother more interested in charities that her children. No nannies or housekeepers to raise the children. Delores had agreed until she’d become pregnant. Then his dreams had vanished. For almost a year after she’d left, he’d turn inward with grief.

The day he’d learned of her death, he’d taken off and bummed around the country seeking something he couldn’t find. He’s finally reached Manon and his sister’s words had sent him back to Fern Lake and the house he’d inherited from his mother. During the past year, his muse had returned and he’d emerged from the shadows.

Deadlines faced him. The half finished movie score needed a uniting theme. The musical had barely been begun. Composing had saved him and blurred his grief over a child who had never been. Now there could be that lost child. He didn’t know what to do or say.

Maria turned from the door. “Will you help?”

“Is there no one else?”

“I have a brother.”

“Appeal to him.”

She laughed. "Not a good idea. Once he knows where you are, he will arrive and demand money for all he spent on Jamie.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “If you refused he’d smear you in the tabloids. Famous Composer Denies His Child. I’m sure he and my sister had concocted a scheme to drain your bank account. She was on her way to New York City when she had the wreck.”

His shoulders tensed. Pain curled his hands. “Did you steal the boy? Is your brother his guardian?”

His name is Jamie. I’m his guardian. Have been since the day I took him from the hospital. If you’d like I’d share him with you. He’s a special little boy.”

Jay drew a deep breath and caught the subtle scent of vanilla. Maria looked like a softer version of Delores. Her features lacked the sharpness of her sister’s. Maria’s laughter and her care of the boy made her more interesting. He liked the way her dark hair curled around her face and the liveliness of her dark amber eyes. She had more curves than his dead wife. What would…Whoa. He had no time for her and the boy but…In that instant he made a decision he might regret.

“Select a school. Call me with the name. I’ll handle the finances. Then stay out of my life.”

“Jamie’s your son.”

“Maybe but right now I don’t have time for him.”

She turned from the door. Disappointment shone in her eyes. “Write down your phone numbers. I’ll call.”

What did she expect? Did she think he would sweep the boy into his arms? He refused to do more until Amos discovered if the papers she’d brought were legit. He should ask for a DNA test but that could wait until the detective made a report. He didn’t want the emotions Maria Russo had stirred. He didn’t need another Russo woman destroying his ability to create.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Series and Setting #MFRWauthor #Suspense

\When writing a series there are three important ingredients. The plot is necessary and so are the characters. But for each story in a series, the characters may change, or they could be the same in each story. Though the characters can stay the same, they need to change and grow.  The plot for each story may change and should. Having the same problem solved in the same way with the same internal and external conflicts and the reader will lose interest.

Different characters or the same. A plot with internal and external conflicts that should change. Both of these could cause both the reader and the writer problems. What can hold them together?

Setting is the answer. When writing a series the setting needs to be consistent. Now not every place in the series needs to be the same but there has to be a unity. Take a period in history and build your series around this world. Medieval, Regency,the contemporary world or a world one has invented can be what holds the series together. Not every space in this world needs to be the same but with certain places or customs or some other feature of the world that makes the reader know this book is part of a series.

I'm working on a series in an alternate Egypt. The Nile is a constant in these stories. The desert is another constant. Another series is in a town in the US. Here I've chosen several features that are in every story. The lake the town is named for, a hamburger place that's unique to this town. They occur in every story in the series so far and they give the reader something concrete to put them and the characters into that world. Of course there are others because a series needs some consistency and that can be the world that's created. This could be a town, an agency and anything a writer can dream into being.

So when working on a series make sure the world you've build is consistent. Give the reader a place to stand.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Discouragement Be Gone #MFRWauthor #Suspense

Discouragement often sets in once a story is started. First you think something like one of these. Does this story make sense? Are these characters strong enough to carry the plot to the end? Worst of all is what happens when you sit down and stare at the blank page and start to think things like this. "I'm not a good writer. I no longer have the drive to succeed. What will the reviewers think of this story. I know they'll hate it. Or what if people are offended by what I'm writing." This can evolve into a spiral that takes you to the bottom.

Is there a cure? Since this is all in your head, you need to turn off that negative voice in your head and start putting the words on the page. Most of the time, the words will start to flow and you'll start to care about the people in your story and the path they're taking to reach their goals. A line may please you and you think, did I really write that. Of course you did and that line can spawn many more. You'll get into the heat of the writing and it won't matter what other people including reviewers think of your story. Suddenly you'll wonder why you thought you weren't a writer and the clouds of discouragement will vanish. And you'll be on the way to another story and eager to finish the one you started. You'll also know that when you begin a new story you might face the same self-doubts but you've conquered them once and again and again.