WRITE OR PLAY?

Now you can see why people call me "Lucy". The first step to getting into a new book is to turn on my computer. I haven't done that yet, so I'm not certain I'm going to work today.

The novel is very intimidating at this point. For one thing, it's not a novel yet and you know it. It's as if this huge piece of marble is setting in your living room and someone has paid you money to turn it into something. All you've done is made a few chips at it, and the task seems so daunting, you want to turn and walk away. If nothingness takes a form, I guess this is it. To be honest, I think writing this blog is a stall technique.

There are a few legitimate problems, however. First, the main character is a black female FBI agent. I've always taken the saying, "Write what you know" seriously, and I haven't been an FBI agent, nor am I black. I don't worry about the race issue very much because I have so many friends who are black. The FBI, though, is a different thing. I've gone to such lengths as to purchase a manuel FBI applicants use to study for the entrance test. I spent fourteen years in the criminal justice system, so I was familiar with my other characters jobs.

Until a few years ago when I started writing a series featuring an investigative probation officer names Carolyn Sullivan, all my books had different characters. That's called a standalone book. The book coming out in May, entitled REVENGE OF INNOCENTS, still features Carolyn, but after that, she's gone. I've never written a continuing character before this, and scenes from the movie "Misery" keep flashing in my head.

I'm dressed in my running clothes now, so I obviously have a multitude of things I can do to keep from writing. I mean, I run to stay healthy, for God's sake. When I get back, I vow to turn on my computer and at least open the file.

Nancy