Come on girls, play nice!

Do you ever find yourself in a rut? Doing the same things day-in and day-out? I did. That’s why I felt the need to get out there and do new things. Meet new people. Who cares if they’re not real…

November 1st I decided to try my hand at nano (National Novel Writing Month). Not wanting to rush through the sequel of KATANA, I thought it would be the perfect time to play around with a project that I’ve head burning in the back of my mind for awhile. One of my biggest worries was that I might not be able to pull it off. It wasn’t that I was worried I couldn’t tell a different story, but rather I was worried that I might only have one “voice” in my head and I wouldn’t be able to produce another distinct from the first.

Well, I shouldn’t have been concerned. Edith spoke up right away and in ways that I never expected. My first surprising discovery was Edith’s desire to die. Rileigh (my MC from KATANA) was itching for a good fight from the first page. Edith was just looking for a reason. Needless to say, I was very excited…then I heard back from my agent…REVISIONS *insert “dun dun dun” music* So as fast as you can say “Better make that a triple shot of espresso!” I tucked away my work in progress and returned to KATANA.

I opened the file, stared at the screen, and…nothing. I tossed out my marble latte and ordered the previously muse-inspiring peppermint mocha…nothing. Starting to panic, I brought out the big guns – individually wrapped, infused with puppies and rainbows, Dove milk chocolate pieces…NOTHING!

Convinced I had finally broken my brain, I began to pack up my laptop (hoping my computer bag had enough room to harbor my broken hopes and dreams) when I happened to glance down at my Ipod.

“You can’t be serious,” I muttered under my breath.

I backed out of the folder marked “Edith’s Music” and clicked into “Rileigh’s Music”…She came back! Rileigh, with whom I have spent entirely too much time alone and should have known better, had been refusing to come out because she couldn’t stand Edith’s music (Mayday Parade, The Maine, Graham Colton Band, Joshua Radin, Jose’ Gonzalez, etc.). On the flipside, I had been unable to write a single word for Edith until I downloaded all new music because she refused to come to life with Rileigh’s music (Flyleaf, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Pink Spiders, Stone Sour, Anberlin, All American Rejects, etc.)

So I guess I shouldn’t have been worried about not being able to create an additional voice – I should have been worried about the consequences of doing so. It’s almost like I can feel Edith pouting in the back of my mind where she’s been shoved during my revisions. (And Rileigh was not above throwing her own temper tantrum when I put her sequel on hold.)

So I guess the moral of this story is: Be careful what you wish for – or you may wind up needing therapy.