Creativity, it’s in my veins, coursing or, should it be cursing, with intensity? Creatives get it.

For years, I didn’t understand the creative beast, because that’s what I call it. I mistakenly thought that if I got that idea out of my head, finished THAT project, or outlined it, acknowledging its existence, that the drive to do it would lessen. It’s that tension, underlying normal activities. That nagging sensation that ebbs and flows to solidify.

But no! The beast always demands more. The more I do, the more the beast wants. It’s hungry all the time, kind of like the monsters and cryptids that I like to write about. Whoa, that’s pretty spot on…

I take inspiration from so many things. Books, television, media, nature, travel—I’m a storyteller. My mother had us glued to our seats with her stories and my kids would come running if I ever said, “Grandma is telling stories!” But, for me, the stories buzz in my head, and they have to come out on paper, rather than me regurgitating it with voice. I get a snippet of an idea and, like characters in a screenplay, those elemental figures step onto a stage and begin to talk. I usually can see some sort of outcome as well. It’s just that middle part that can get very muddy. Screenwriting helped me immensely with that process. There is a structure, motivation, flawed characters, interesting world building and a set point where the hooks hit. It can be very satisfying when everything goes just right. Kind of like sex.

Oops, did it again.

Well, I finished my latest novel and it's off at the editor now. Yes, I was able to keep the momentum going. Initially Lost City of Quatria was going to be one novel, but after pitching it to a writing group, every single person said, “No, it’s two books!” Here’s where I smile. See, I knew quite a lot about the second portion of that pitch because it is based on a true person, but most of the back story I have written is in the first book (that was the harder part). This second one, is waiting for me, almost already outlined is — tickling my mind when I relax with images that flash and then turn to smoke. Kinda like a dragon, breathing in and out.

“No,” I yelled at the beast! I’m going to write a different book, one based on a script that I’ve already written! It’s one of those stories that should fly off my keyboard and not suffocate me for a year.

I think the beast might have other ideas. They have a mind of their own and sometimes talk back to me, insisting on being noticed, especially in my subconsciousness. UGH!

So, I’m keeping myself motivated by looking for literary agents and trying to finish up some other projects, like posting the audio children’s book that I did last summer. I need to do that, but its unfamiliar territory and technology doesn’t always work for me. I’ve procrastinated major on that one. Also, I have a book written about searching for happiness. Maybe I should get that one out too? Submitted the idea to a publisher and we are almost at that six-month point where you MIGHT get a response. And I should write another short story to post on Medium. This is a great way to gain followers.

In the next few weeks, I will be sitting at an author booth at a street festival hawking my two books in print and thinking, yeah, would be good to have some other books out here. Perhaps inspiration will hit while I’m sitting there trying not to bake in the heat?

A children’s coloring book based on cryptids would be great to have on the table, drawing people into my world of unleashed imaginations. In the spring I hope to travel to the Everglades to do some research on the Skunk Ape of Florida because he is going to be a major character in a sequel to Ropen Island and the Cryptozoology hunting team of the Lane Brothers.

And, maybe, just maybe, I can swing a trip to Maine into 2025 to go to the Cryptozoology Museum or hit a Bigfoot cruise?

 

Helpful hint for the blog: sitting at your desk and staring at the screen can cause quite a bit of dry eye symptoms and I have found a solution. Other than, getting up and moving away from the screen now and then, but using some eye drops that are actually working helps. I found that SYNTHOVIAL SEVEN drops are the answer. I should be a spokesperson for them. A drop in each eye first thing in the morning is really helping. HYALOGIC manufacturing…are you listening?

 


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