"WRITE THE BOOK, BE THE BOOK"

              

                                  (YOU ARE WHAT YOU WRITE)

HOW MANY OF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE PHRASE: YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT?

WELL WRITERS ESSENTIALLY ARE HELD TO THIS SAME PRINCIPLE. NOT TO SAY THAT IF YOU WRITE ABOUT VAMPIRES, THAT THERE IS SOME DARK BROODING FORCE INSIDE OF YOU. NO, NOT AT ALL.

IT SIMPLY MEANS YOU PREFER TO WRITE ABOUT FANTASY OR SCI-FI, WHICH IS PERFECTLY NORMAL.

WRITERS TEND TO WRITE ABOUT WHAT DRIVES THEM, THINGS THAT HOLD A PARTICULAR INTEREST FOR THEM. MY WEAPON OF CHOICE OF COURSE IS ROMANCE. NOT BECAUSE MY IMAGINATION WON’T ALLOW ME TO WRITE ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE.

ONLY IT’S MY PREFERENCE.

HOWEVER, ROMANCE IS WHERE MY PASSIONS LEADS ME. MUCH LIKE SPORT WRITERS THEY WRITE ABOUT SPORTS, IT’S WHERE THEIR STRENGTH LIE AND MINE BECAUSE WE WRITE ABOUT WHAT WE KNOW.

SOMETHING ELSE I DISCOVERED THROUGHOUT MY WRITING CAREER IS THAT YOU CAN NOT BE AFRAID TO BE HONEST WITH WHO YOU ARE AS A WRITER, IF YOU DO, THEN YOU ARE SHORTCHANGING YOURSELF.

 WHAT I MEAN BY THIS IS, SOMETIMES WE’RE AFRAID TO LET GO AND TELL THE STORY TO ALLOW THE CHARACTERS TO HAVE FULL REIGN. YES, WE ARE THE PUPPETEERS WORKING THE STRINGS; STILL IT’S THE CHARACTERS WHO DRIVE THE STORY.

THIS WAS A HUGE ISSUE FOR ME BECAUSE I DIDN’T WANT PEOPLE THINKING THAT I WAS SOME SORT OF SEX ADDICT IF I INCLUDED THESE SCENES IN THE STORY. WHAT IT CAME DOWN TO WAS MY RELIGIOUS HANG-UPS. I’M A CHRISTIAN AND BELIEVED AS MANY OTHERS THAT SEX WAS SOMETHING YOU DIDN’T WRITE ABOUT OR DISCUSS. IT’S A SECULAR CONVERSATION, WHAT’S DONE IN THE PRIVACY OF ONE’S BEDROOM AND BEHIND CLOSED DOORS IS THEIR BUSINESS ALONE.

 “CHRISTIANS” JUST DON’T DO THINGS LIKE THAT. SO NOT TRUE, OTHERWISE THIS WORLD WOULDN’T BE OVER POPULATED BY FOLLOWERS AND NON-FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. I FOCUSED ON THIS PARTICULAR TOPIC BECAUSE MOST INDIVIDUALS BELIEVE ALL ROMANCE INVOLVES SOME TYPE OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY. WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY INCORRECT. WE’RE HUMAN COPULATION IS PART OF OUR MAKEUP AS WELL STAMPED ALL OVER OUR DNA. IF THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT GOD WOULD HAVE NEVER GAVE THE OKAY AS WELL PLACED THIS DESIRE INSIDE US.

 THERE IS NOTHING EVIL OR IMMORAL ABOUT UNLESS IT HAS BEEN DISTORTED OR BECOME DEPRAVED. 

IN NO WAY DOES THIS DIMINISH WHO I AM AS A PERSON OR MY BELIEFS. I SIMPLY WRITE THE TRUTH AND HUMANIZE MY CHARACTERS BY DOING SO.

LET ME SHARE THIS EXPERIENCE WITH YOU: WHEN I WROTE “IF TOMORROW COMES” AVAILABLE AT ALL ONLINE BOOK STORES AND COMING TO A BRICK & MORTAR STORE NEAR YOU SOON BY THE WAY.

WHO I AM AS A CHRISTIAN IS THROUGHOUT THIS BOOK, NOT BY MY DESIGN, BUT BECAUSE CHRIST IS SO DEEPLY ANCHORED INSIDE ME, I CONSCIOUSLY AND UNCONSCIOUSLY INCLUDED THINGS ABOUT THE CHARACTERS, THEIR LIVES EVEN THEIR NAMES AND BELIEFS. NO I’M NOT A CHRISTIAN WRITER BUT MY STORIES ARE FILLED WITH SPIRITUALITY BECAUSE I AM TOO.  

AGAIN, I AM WHAT I WRITE BUT ONLY IN THE SENSE OF THE GENRE, I CHOOSE TO WRITE ABOUT, NOT AS AN INDIVIDUAL. THEREFORE, I RELAXED, RELATE, AND RELEASED ALL OF MY INHIBITIONS WHEN IT CAME TO THE SUBJECT OF SEX. NOW I AM NOT A FAN OF EROTICA NOR DO I READ IT OR WANT MY STYLE OF WRITING ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FORM OF EXPLICIT SEX. THIS WENT BEYOND WHAT I WANTED TO PROJECT IN MY STORIES. WHAT I DISCOVERED IS ROMANCE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE TAINTED BY SOMEONE ELSE’S LACK OF IMAGINATION OR OVER ACTIVE ONE IN THIS CASE. UNDERSTAND I’M NOT BASHING ANYONE’S STYLE OF WRITING, TO EACH HIS OWN IS WHAT I ALWAYS SAY. 

IF IT WORKS FOR YOU THEN BY ALL MEANS DO IT.

AT THE SAME TIME, I LEARNED THAT WRITING SEX SCENES OR ANY OTHER SCENE IS A LOT LIKE SHOW AND TELL. WHEN WRITING YOU SHOULD DO MORE SHOWING THEN TELLING. I CHOSE A MORE POETIC FORM OF THIS, FIRSTLY BECAUSE I LOVE POETRY AND SECONDLY, IT ALLOWED ME TO BE FREER IN MY DESCRIPTIONS. MOST READERS ARE AFFECTED BY BEAUTIFUL WORDS MORE SO THAN LUSTY ONE’S.

EXPRESSION IS AN INDIVIDUAL THING; WE CAN EITHER USE IT TO DO GOOD OR EVIL. IT IS ALSO A FORM OF ART, WE SEE IT IN PAINTINGS BY SOME OF THE GREATEST ARTIST WHO HAVE BEEN IMMORTALIZED BY WHAT THEY PAINTED ON CANVAS AND GRACED THE EARTH WITH BEAUTIFUL IMAGES. MANY OF THE ARTIST DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY FOR EXAMPLE LEONARDO DA VINCI PAINTED NUDE CHARACTERS, NOT BECAUSE OF DEPRAVITY BUT HE SAW THE HUMAN BODY AS SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL. WE WILL ALWAYS THE IMAGES HE PAINTED OF THE LAST SUPPER, HIS DEPICTION OF WHAT WAS DESCRIBED TO US FROM THE BIBLE. THE MONA LISA AND MANY MORE. AND LEST NOT FORGET MICHELANGELO WHO ALSO PAINTED NUDE CHARACTERS SUCH AS KING DAVID AND THE CREATION OF ADAM. LET’S NOT FORGET THE CEILING OF THE SISTINE CHAPEL IN ROME. 

YOU HAVE TO ADMIT THEY WERE TRENDSETTERS FOR THE TIME AND DARING. YET THEIR ART WAS NOT LABELED AS BEEN OBSCENE OR SINFUL. THEY SIMPLY USED THE TALENT GOD GAVE THEM TO CREATE MASTERFUL WORKS OF ART. IMAGINE IF THEY RESISTED THE URGE TO PAINT THESE PRICELESS PAINTINGS, WE WOULDN’T HAVE WITNESSED WHAT HAS BEEN AROUND FOR CENTURIES. 

ANYTHING CAN BE SUPPRESSED WHETHER IT’S A TALENT FOR PAINTING, WRITING OR WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE. WE WILL LOSE IT IF WE FAIL TO PUT FORTH AN EFFORT TO RAISE OUR VOICES OR PENS AND KEYBOARDS, AS IT RELATES TO WRITING. SOMETIMES WE FAIL AS WRITERS BECAUSE WE SECOND GUESS OUR ABILITIES AND BECAUSE WE DON’T WANT TO BE SIGNIFIED BY WHAT WE WRITE. HOWEVER, IF YOU ACCEPT WHO YOU ARE AS A WRITER AND TAKE OWNERSHIP OF WHAT YOU PRODUCE THEN YOU HAVE NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF, ONLY PROUD.

WE ARE ARTIST, WE PAINT MAGNIFICENT IMAGES NOT ON CANVAS BUT THROUGH WORDS.

WE ARE WHAT WE WRITE, WHETHER WE ARE HOPELESS ROMANTICS, SCI-FI OR FANTASY, HISTORY OR EVEN EROTICISM.

MOREOVER, WE WRITE BECAUSE OF THE INNER DESIRE AND PASSION THAT FUEL OUR CREATIVE SPIRITS. ESSENTIALLY, WE ARE WHAT WE WRITE BECAUSE WE CAN DO NO LESS THAT THIS.

HAVE YOU EVER READ A BOOK BY AN AUTHOR THAT ALWAYS WROTE IN A SPECIFIC GENRE, TRY TO WRITE OUTSIDE OF THEIR ELEMENT? I HAVE, AND BELIEVE ME YOU COULD TELL THAT THIS WAS NOT THEIR NICHE.

IMAGINE IF STEPHEN KING WROTE ROMANCE, WHEN WE KNOW THAT HE IS ONE OF THE BEST SC-FI AUTHORS EVER. PERSONALLY, I CAN’T, NOT TO SAY HE COULDN’T BE JUST AS COMPELLING IN THIS STYLE OF WRITING BUT THIS IS NOT WHAT WE WOULD EXPECT FROM HIM AND WOULD PROBABLY NOT FALL IN THE BEST SELLER CATEGORY EITHER.

OR DR. SEUSS CHANNELING HIS INNER DIVA TO WRITE CHIC LIT? ME NEITHER, WHO THEY ARE AS WRITERS WORKED FOR THEM, THE SAME WAY IT DOES FOR US.

I KNOW I’VE SAID THAT WE MUST THINK AND WRITE OUTSIDE OF THE BOX, BUT ONLY IF WE ARE NOT TRYING TO FORCE A SQUARE PEG INTO A CIRCLE.

 AGAIN, WE ARE WHAT WE WRITE! I CAN’T SAY THIS ENOUGH.

AS WRITERS, THE STORIES THAT WE CREATE ARE UNLIMITED, BUT YOU’LL PROBABLY NEVER READ A BOOK BY ME ABOUT VAMPIRES. (I KEEP REFERENCING THIS BECAUSE I JUST READ A SERIES BY ERICA STEPHENS) I LOVED THE BOOKS READ THE FIRST ONE AND WAS HOOKED. SHE IS A DYNAMIC WRITER AND YOU SHOULD REALLY CHECK HER OUT.

NEVERTHELESS, I AM IMAGINATIVE BUT I’D RATHER WRITE ABOUT EVERLASTING LOVE FROM A MORE HUMANLY FRAME OF MIND. I LOVE FANTASY, AND OTHER GENRES OF WRITING, BUT HANDS DOWN, I AM A ROMANCE JUNKY. I CAN’T CHANGE WHO I AM AS WRITER NO MORE THAN I CAN THE COLOR OF MY SKIN.

I AM WHAT I WRITE, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.

I’M PROUD OF WHO I AM AND I TAKE COMPLETE OWNERSHIP OF IT. I CAME TO TERMS WITH THIS A LONG TIME AGO AND REFUSE TO GO BACK TO HIDING BEHIND RELIGION OR ANYTHING ELSE.