Preparing for a week of writing

First of all, thanks so much for all the questions and advice that you guys sent to me. I really appreciated them all. When the book is done, you'll find some answers in there. And my next post will address some of them. I promise to post at least once before I go away. Which leads to the big news: there's just one week left till I head to the woods for two weekends with the whole week in between to make a big push towards "gettin' er done", as we say at work.

My last blog post resulted in lots of great offers of places to go, and each one of them would be perfect. In the end, my in-laws cabin has won out for three good reasons: it's within an hour of home so the hubby can come visit me; it has a spectacular view of a pond and I can already envision early mornings sitting at the table by the big kitchen window that overlooks the water, drinking my coffee and getting my head together; and finally, it has heat. And a woodstove. So I can get the best of both worlds. For those of you readers not familiar with Newfoundland, which is where I live, we just had a snowstorm two days ago and everything here is covered in ice and snow. Heat is important! Also, I must confess, it's not as secluded as my parent's cabin, so I know that if I get starved for company, there's bound to be a stray aunt or uncle in law nearby. And did I mention no internet? Which is ideal. Clearly not because I'd spend more time blogging than writing, but because I can escape both curses that plague me: the curse of wanting to research more; and the curse of checking my work email, even when I'm off. I bet this week is going to seem endless as I count off the days till I get away.

I would have dearly loved to go to my Nan's cabin. Honestly, that would have been the ideal place. It's where she read all her romances, it's where I used to read in the rocking chair across from her, and it's just one of the most beautiful places in the world. But it's five hours away, I haven't been there since she passed, and I would be there all alone. My fear is that I'd spend more time missing her than accomplishing anything at all. But maybe this summer the hubby will have time to come with me and we'll go for a visit.

Stay tuned for the promised post before the week is out.

Thanks everyone!

20 Questions

Yesterday I received a tweet. For those of you not familiar with Twitter, that's what you call a little post someone makes. Anyhow, this tweet said, "I'll post something new if you will." That was my cousin Ken's way of saying, "We are bad bloggers. Get back at it, lady." Well, I think that's what it means. My cousin lives in Ottawa and I don't see much of him, but I figure that's the general gist of what he means. So here I am, blogging.

The other part of his tweet, well, that's the part I don't really want to write about. He asked, "Any progress with the writing?" Should I hold a poll to see what you all think the answer to that is? You got it. It's a big no.

"Vicki!", I bet you're wondering. "The last time you posted you were all ready to embrace the inspiration of the morning and write and write and write." And I did. I wrote about six pages, which is pretty good. But then I got on twitter, and created an account for Ches's, and tweeted for that, and then I had supper, and then I turned around and it's two or three weeks later and here I am with no blog, no new writing, and a derelict twitter feed for the family business. I suck.

To be honest, I should have inspiration to write all over the place. The hubby is supportive, the family is supportive, I even had that kick in the pants from a real romance writer. And still, I'm approaching another weekend with no idea what I can produce this weekend.

I've done all kinds of "sort of" work. I sent in my membership to the Romance Writers of America, a writer's organization for people like me. I almost booked a research trip to England, but then hubby realized he was too far behind in his work for us to go. I re-read a book about regency era fashions. I even read a couple of new romance novels including "A Lady Most Likely", which has two of my favourite authors together! But no writing. So I need your help. I gotta get my head back in the game. So I'm asking you to ask me a question, something for me to ponder about the story. Like "Is your main character allergic to grass?" or "Why is your main hunk a Duke?" You can ask it either in this blog, or on twitter, or on facebook, or to me directly. Maybe I'll blog some answers. And even better, maybe it'll get me thinking a little differently and get me past this hump I'm stuck on. I'd really appreciate the gentle prod.

Just so you know, it's not that I don't think about the story. Yesterday, for instance, I told a co-worker I was going to make a crotchety, curmudgeon character and model it after him. Sorry JMR. We made up after, and now he can be much more dashing. And I've also booked a week off work in April so I can disappear somewhere to really get some writing done. That works for me, the hiding away in the woods. So I'm going to do it again. And it would be great if I'm back in fighting form when I do it.

So please, friends. Help a struggling storyteller out. Ask me a question.