What I do

I write Morning Pages, every day, ala Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way". Few things have had a more powerfully positive affect on my life. My notebook is my portable therapist.
Here's what you do.
You buy a thick, cheap notebook. (It's important that it be cheap, because if you get something fancy, you're going to start thinking your grandchildren will read it and it needs to be perfect.)
You commit to writing three pages, in long-hand, every morning of your life. (Hint: you won't do it every morning because you aren't perfect, and you don't need to be. Nobody, least of all God, expects it, so let go of that one. It's a lie you've written into the script.)
Next, no judging. You write what comes out of your head, and you're as honest as you can be. It's a stream-of-consciousness thing, and at first, there will be a lot of garbage. That's a good thing. Allow it. Revel in it. Celebrate it! You've done something wonderful. You've gotten the garbage out of your head and onto the page, where you can get some perspective. Many of the movies playing in Bijou You, a multi-screen cinaplex, are unconscious. Once you are aware of them, they are on their way out.)
At least at first, don't reread your entries. That can keep you beating the same old drums, the ones that underscore the soundtrack--yes, there's a soundtrack--of some of your worst movies. (More on drum-beating and soundtracks tomorrow.)
Write it down. All of it, even the ugly stuff. Especially the ugly stuff.
Perspective is a marvelous thing, and there's only one way to get it.
By next week, I'll have an email address, specifically for replying to the entries in this blog. We're going to push up our sleeves, and journal our way out of Bijou You, into the Real World.

Mind Movies

If you follow this blog, you're a reader.
If you're a reader, you have a highly developed imagination.
This is a GOOD thing, for the most part, but there are perils to be considered.
Watch out for those mind movies!
The ones you make up in your head, starring you.
These are often disaster flicks, minor and major, with casts of thousands--(somebody always refuses to follow the script, have you noticed? Smile here)--with titles like, (Insert your name), LOSES HER JOB. DIES IN FIERY CRASH. GAINS WEIGHT. IS DESTINED TO BECOME A BAG-LADY.
The titles are endless. The sets are convincing, and the costumes are authentic. But it's still a movie.
Meanwhile, the Ultimate Reality Show is going on all around you.
Don't miss it!
Don't sit in that little theatre in your head, making up dark stories, most of which are probably a variation on the chicken-little, the-sky-is-falling theme. And don't give in to the temptation to work up better movies for yourself.
Get out there and play your role. Be on stage. You'll have to ad-lib, since there's no script, but hey, you're up to that. You've got a great imagination, and you're quick on your feet, after dancing in all those one-woman, or one-man, productions.
When you need a break, dive into a good book. That's what they're for--they're refuges for busy minds and spirits. It's your personal Bijou I'm asking you to avoid.
Come on out. Join the fun.
There's all the drama you could want. The occasional cliff-hanger, too. It's an adventure film, after all. It's all good--if you remember you're playing a part.

Drama Anonymous

What are the symptoms?
Micromanagement.
Analysis paralysis.
Ongoing frustration.
I can't speak for you, but I'm jumping out of THAT trap.
It's one thing to write books.
It's another to write scripts for my life and live them out.
I'm letting go.
I'm letting God.
How about you?

Never Look Back

Well, it's time to shift gears. This weekend, visiting Barnes and Noble, at Desert Ridge mall, near my house, what should my eyes fall upon but copies of "Never Look Back", in paperback! I did not expect to see the book for several more days.

For those of you who read the first Clare and Tony mystery/romance, "Don't Look Now", and missed the second, "Never Look Back", when it came out in trade paperback, here's your chance. More lively adventures of Clare Westbrook, smart-ass attorney at law, and Tony Sonterra, homicide cop delicious. Not a dull moment with these two, I promise. Someone is always trying to kill one or both of them, and in the meantime, they're trying hard to work out their relationship, which is an up and down proposition to say the least!

The third and final book in the series, aptly titled "One Last Look", will be released in trade paperback in January of 06. For now, if you haven't met Clare and Tony, start with "Don't Look Now" and "Never Look Back". Can I promise that you'll love the books? No. But I CAN promise you won't be bored.

More tomorrow.

I'm thinking of organizing a new 12-Step program. Drama Anonymous. Any potentional members out there?

Mary Ann and the TV Blackout

I promised to tell the story, and here it is!
On Thursday morning, I went to Channel 3, Phoenix, to appear on GOOD DAY ARIZONA, with Tara, Scott and Dan. I was accompanied by my usual entourage--it was niece Jenni's birthday, so we'd made plans to hit the Hard Rock Cafe for a celebration lunch afterwards. Even my mom was along!
Well, I got situated on the set, to prepare for the big interview about McKettrick's Choice, and my family clustered in a corner to watch the show. Lights, camera, action! Tara and I had a great chat about the book, the characters, and my scholarship program. THEN, all of the sudden, the set went dark! What had happened? Well, Mary Ann had leaned on the control panel by accident. Her elbow came to rest on the one button in the whole room that would shut off the lights!
We're still laughing about it, here at Springwater Station.
I've given my dear cousin a new nickname: Blackout Bleecker!
In true western tradition, she's been a very good sport. Any day now, I plan to quit ribbing her about it. But not just yet.
It's too much fun!