Hmmmm

There aren’t too many certainties in life. The Irish have a saying: There are only two things to worry about, living and dying. If you live, you had nothing to worry about; if you die you have nothing to worry about. So we know that there are at least two certainties – living and dying. Benjamin Franklin, who I don’t think was Irish, had his own ideas – and I’ll paraphrase – there are only two things for certain, death and taxes. There’s that death thing again. So I guess we can say for sure that death is a certainty. Taxes and living tie for second place. I have a point, hold on. In the writing world there are also certain “certainties”. The first? That the book sucks; the voices will harass, unmercifully, the muses are going to laugh, stick the “L” on their forehead and fly off to Monte Carlo. The second? The writing will flow; the voices put a cork in it and the muses smile, dance nekkid around your desk and throw confetti. I think my first hint was when the travel agency called to confirm my reservation for two to Aruba. Lonestar Reunion is not working AT THIS TIME. Will it ever? Yes. As soon as it decides to quit acting like a prima donna and cooperate, we’ll get back to it. You see, it was originally conceived back in another millennium (well it was the 20th century) as a writing project for my sister-in-law (Bebo the Fire Breathing Dragon) and myself. Four romantic suspense stories that had a continuing mystery throughout – with each book solving a bit of the mystery. When I took it over last Fall I tried to continue the mystery, but the muses decided that it was going to be a romantic comedy. No problem. I can be funny when I want to. Everything was going fine and then BANG!

The story begins with Maxie (Skye, our heroines mother) reading tarot cards – she’s not very good, and doesn’t really have a clue about what she’s doing, but suddenly the cards line-up and she can’t believe what they say:

Souls come together that were meant to be
Queens find their mates and meet their destiny
One, in a friend her heart she will see
One finds a rebel to set her free
One finds the man she can never be
One must live the fantasy

Cool, huh? Each line refers to the heroines in the books.

So, I’m reading it the other night and the following pops into my head:

All be aware of the darkening sky,
Shadows that grow while the moon hangs high,
Secrets that cannot be denied,
Of the who, what, where and why.
The first may lose what they hold most dear.
The second must face their biggest fear.
The third has a secret at first unclear.
The fourth, unaware of danger near.

Where did that come from? Now the thing wants to be a mystery again. I can do that – sort of a romantic comedy suspense like Jill’s Get a Clue. Only I have no idea what the mystery is. I kind of do in a couple, but the first one, no way. And what secret? Come on, give a poor writer a break.

So, the muses reservations are for the end of the month. I’m going to pull out another story, Operation: Eden, that some of you from the bravenet blog might recognize. We’ll see where that one leads – at least I know that it’s a mystery, it’s a workable romantic comedy mystery, and it doesn’t hate me … yet.

Don't forget that there's a contest on for a copy of Anne Frasier's Pale Immortal.