Brit Blaise Talks about the American (Writing) Dream
My guest blogger today is Brit Blaise (who also writes under a few other names). She’s one of the original Butterscotch Martini Girls and those gals never use their real names in order to avoid warrants after too many martinis. Seriously now, Brit’s real name may or may not be Judi. I’ve known her (virtually) since 2008 and still don’t know for certain who she is but I know I like her. (She’s very much like Batman in that respect.) Whoever she is, she’s fantastic and I’m very lucky to know her.
Thanks for the invitation to blog, Lisa. And good luck with your latest release. You’ve worked hard. That’s what I want to talk about. Writing a book seems to be the American goal. So many people want to do it, and lots try. If there are statistics on how many succeed, I don’t know them.
I’m not a full-time writer. In fact, since I was published in ’05, I’ve been a very sporadic writer, despite having signed thirty-nine contracts to date. When I write, I write very, very fast, and when I don’t write, it’s for months.
Sometimes writing is easy, and those are the good times. I had a wonderful month last November. I wrote over 56K words and made multiple submissions of several different stories. Right now, I’m fighting a cold and I have galley edits. And I have a full-time job this time of the year which can easily be more than 60 hours a week. If only there were more good times. Writing is hard work.
I’m not complaining, I’m stating a fact. No matter how difficult writing can be, I can’t stop. I’m also waiting to hear about one of my submissions, a breath-holding, fingers-crossed kind of wait. It’s nerve-wracking…but in a good way. Even if I get a rejection, I’ll still be a winner for trying.
I’m just glad to be writing again after a ten month hiatus this time. Sometime next month, I have a new story coming from Sapphire Blue Publishing…an erotic romantic comedy with a little twist of paranormal, just a little. And I have a paperback coming under my third writing name the same month from Amber Allure. Both of these stories resulted from my wonderfully productive November. I wrote the entire year in ’08 and had twelve releases that year. I feel as if a wonderfully prolific period is about to happen to me again. I have more ideas that I know what to do with…and I need to get them out.
If only life wouldn’t get in my way…
If you’re a writer…are you able to keep a steady flow, or are you a roller-coaster-writer like I am?
And if you’re a reader, does it frustrate you to wait for your favorite author to release a new book?
I am a roller-coaster writer. I could write constantly but life does have a tendency of getting in the way. I have two preschoolers at home (who are very active, creative boys) and those little monkeys keep me hopping. My hope is that when they go to school I’ll be able to write on a daily basis.
As for the readers…bless the patient ones!
I’m getting better with a writing schedule. But I still have days where I just can’t get the words to flow onto the paper. Then I have days where I could write all day and into the night if nothing got in my way. So, I guess that makes me sorta a roller-coaster writer too.
Brit, great to see you here on Lisa’s blog. I’ll be watching for your next book. LOVE your stories. Good luck on the submission you’re waiting to hear back on.:-)
It’s a wild ride, but I’m not getting off…(the coaster)
Thank you for qualifying that comment. I was about to jump on it…(the comment) LOL