Taking stock

Well, 2007 is here. Time for a fresh start!

My house is clean for the first time in months, my laundry is (mostly) done, I sent off the final corrections for BEADS OF DOUBT, and I'm on the final revisions for the first Sophie Garou book. Whose title, hopefully, will be established shortly.

Hooray!

I've been thinking a lot about writing lately. The last year has been wonderful, yet chaotic. MURDER came out, I got a great contract from Ballantine, and I've got a few other projects on the back burner. Plus two kids and a house to keep up with. Which has left me a bit scattered.

I've been thinking recently about the need to find our centers and write what's meaningful to us, even though these days marketability is a big, big thing. (JB Stanley just did a nice post on that on the Cozy Chicks blog.) Promotion and marketability are obviously very important. Still, I think the stories that move me the most are the ones that are told from the heart.

I've been reading far and wide recently, feeling for story ideas that speak to me -- and some interesting ones have certainly popped up, often when I'm out for a walk or driving to the grocery store. It's interesting. Creativity sometimes feels like a river that flows deep within us. We dip into it when we're working, but even though we know it's there, it's sometimes hard to find -- and for me, anyway, it needs a good rainfall to fill up from time to time. (I live in Texas, where rain is a sometimes scarce blessing, in case you were wondering.)

Maybe I should call it the Creativity Aquifer, and mine has needed some refilling.

With writing these days, promotion is a huge part of it, and I enjoy going out and meeting people and doing signings and being on the road. It feeds my spirit in a way. But sometimes I need quiet, too -- little gentle rains, without all the exciting weather. So this year I'll be trying to find that elusive balance -- which will be tough, since I have three books due out.

But if Susan Wittig Albert can do it, so can I, right?

(And once again, any and all babysitting offers will happily be considered.)

Hope your 2007 is off to a great start, and that all your projects are doing well!