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| This is my Shirley - that impish look says it all. |
I was so incredibly happy a few months ago when an idea for
a short story came to me. Unfortunately,
it came and went just as quickly. I was in Thailand at the time, I think.
Now I’m in Malaysia in a smaller town – Melaka – staying in
a laidback little hotel with a wonderful café next door and nearly a month ago
I was hit by a wave of creativity that has not subsided at all. In fact, it has
grown to tsunami proportions.
For the past week I’ve been considering writing this post,
yet afraid to out of writer’s superstition. Now, I’m so secure in my period of
profound creativity that I accept it will last for quite a while.
How do I know? First, I’m about 2/3 done with a non-fiction
book and it has just swamped me. I can’t write fast enough. Secondly, I’ve had
two of these periods before and I recognize them now.
First, I wrote screenplays for about two years – nine, in
fact. They just came to me, and one of them got me an agent. I kept spitting
them out and frankly, had ideas for several more, but one day, as quickly as
the stream of inspiration began, it left me. I had written myself out.
Then in 2010, when I began writing Red Mojo Mama, my muse
returned big time. I finished that novel in just a few months and went on to
publish a book of blog posts, a novella, a collection of short stories and
poems, a how-to book and finally a second “Red” book. Then my muse moved out
for a long period - very long.
As it turns out, and as I’ve posted, she was hanging out
right here, waiting on me. From the second day of my original 8-day stay, she
(Shirley is her name) came calling. She carried the idea for the book I’m writing
in a little wicker basket dangling from her arm …okay, that’s a little goofy,
even for me. But seriously, it has been one beautiful connection ever since and
she is again visiting me in my sleep. I wake up with fabulous ideas; the last
one for a screenplay, which I haven’t tackled in two decades. But I will give
it a try as soon as this non-fiction is out there in the world – changing lives,
I hope! The short story has been revived and an idea for a novel from two years
ago has started leaving its footprints on my soul.
And then there’s Red. The third in the trilogy has been due
for years. It’s coming. It really is. Finally.
So, I can treasure now the time I have with Shirley, the
products of that union that will come and my latest time of great productivity.
I hope it stays for years because, frankly, my life is so much better when I
can write.
