Perspective

It's all a matter of attitude, isn't it?

I was thinking about that as I drove snowy roads to and from the gym this morning. A month ago I would have said "These roads SUCK. Man, can't they clear 'em off?"

Today I thought, "Not too bad. Only a few icy spots. Reminder: start braking early at stop signs."

I think I have my "winter driving skills" back. I know I won't see dry pavement for 4 months at best, and am now adapting.

So much in life is a matter of perspective. I think the tough thing is to figure out when to adapt, when to bitch about it or when to get worried.

The same is true in writing: when you're working on a book and it just isn't working out: when do you cut & run and when do you continue plugging away? My current WIP is going along great, so that's not a problem, but I've had books where I wasn't sure: keep or toss? Continue or move on to something else?

It's the same for so much in life ...balance. Balance is all....

Snow day

We got about 8" of snow last night and we're in a blizzard right now, so I am snug at home in front of my fire, working remotely. Telecommuting has to be one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century.

Hard to believe there's a Global Warming Conference going on somewhere in the world. The wind is howling, the snow is drifting, and my back is a bit achy from shoveling. I've been thinking a lot about how humans affect the world because I'm working on a new book series, sort of a "Life Without People" kind of thing. What would happen if...

I think I come up with all my story ideas that way. People ask, "How did you come up with the idea to murder a woman in the middle of a big book signing." Well, I did it by saying, "What would happen if a well known author dropped over dead at a book signing. How was the murder done? Who did it? Why?" And off I go...

Maybe we need to do the same thing for climate change. "What would happen if...everyone set their thermostats lower. Everybody ate 100 fewer calories a day. Everybody..."

Indeed. What would happen if?

20-somethings, 30-somethings

Help me out. My newest WIP has a heroine in her 30s and I'm not 30 ::grin:: I stay pretty current on music, but am not really versed on what she might listen to on her IPod.

Please email me (jaye@jayellwilson.com) the following if you would:

Title & artist of:

10 romantic songs
10 rock-n-roll high-energy get-up-and-move songs
10 quiet, contemplative, relaxing songs

It can be pop, rock, top 10, obscure ... I need your opinions on what she might download to her IPod.

Thanks!

Twitter, Facebook, MySpace...oh my

I'm so engrossed in my latest book project that I've lost track of just about everything else. This is the way it should be. I should enjoy my writing so much that everything else falls by the wayside.

This means I'm not being very 'social' right now on the social networking sites. I've set myself a goal of updating my 'status' every day, but sometimes it's hard to remember to do it. Luckily I have it all set up so when I go to Twitter & update, the posts go to other sites. Sneaky, but useful.

It's going to be very challenging in January when I kick off a new year of books. I haven't been doing much promo lately because I don't have anything new out. But next year ... 5 books again.

For now, though, I'm just going to enjoy myself... and my new characters!

This vacation stuff is great

I'm getting so much done...it's amazing what a few days away from the office can do for my "To Do" stack. Plus I'm getting a ton of writing done. You know, when you're working on a book with characters who are front & center in your head, it's really, really easy. I look forward to sitting down and resent time away from my keyboard.

Hmm. Time like now, blogging when I could be writing.

Later.