Writing Landscapes

Did you hear about that Stephanie Meyer internet leak debacle? What a bummer!

The author of the YA saga, Twilight, canned her final installment, Midnight Sun, in the middle of writing it, postponing the completion of it indefinitely, and posting the rough draft on her website, officially washing her hands of the project.

The YA and another YA I love adore the series and introduced me to it. Of course, I fell in love with it too and we were all anxiously awaiting the last in the series...

So Mr. P, angry for us, called Stephanie to the mat, saying, “Yeah, you know (Stephanie Meyer) realized (the premise) wouldn’t work, so she’s just using this for an excuse to cut her losses. I mean who stops writing a book in the middle of it like that!”

(Biting my lip and cringing.) Well…I have.

I can’t say for Stephanie Meyer, but when I had that huge falling out with my family last year and my nieces and nephews were kept from me, it sucked. Totally shook my foundation and my belief that honesty and fair play always win.

And I was mad. Whoo-whee!...I was pissed.

As a result, I couldn’t write.

It was the first time I felt like a temperamental artiste.

It was so annoying!

I mean…me? A diva who needed the right conditions before I could work?!? Ewww! Who does that?!? Who wants to be that?

But every time I tried to work on my sci-fi thriller, I couldn’t. And when I tried to work on something else, my writing came out as bitter bilious prose I wouldn’t line a bird cage with much less let anyone else read.

I was stuck.

Still, I needed to write. But that bitter pissy prose was the only thing comin’ out.

Dilemma, dilemma…

Obviously, I needed to write through it. I was driven to break through that stinkin’ wall.

I called it Writing Landscapes. You know…those landscape photos your friends take on vacations and show you like they’re the Holy Grail.

Seriously. No one really wants to see that stuff.

Really.

(Word to the wise, unless your name starts with Ansel and ends with Adams, no one wants to see your vacation pix of landscapes. Please, go ahead and keep taking them, but really, I only want to see you in various locales having the time of your life. So…yeah…no more posed shots...unless you can irreverently mock a world-renowned piece of art history...like Rodin's Thinker. Not that I've done that...(whistling innocently). And if you can work it that you’re laughing so hard soda’s coming out of your nose, now that’s the shot I want to see.)

Anyway, I’m finally back to my sci-fi. And I’m so glad I pushed through. And I thanked G-d for my unpublished status because I can’t imagine not being able to write while under contract…(shuddering).

And now I know how to insulate myself better. Life is good.

I can only hope Stephanie Meyer can find herself in the peaceful place I found. And soon.

You know how they say adversity makes you stronger? Well I feel so powerful I feel like I could kick some major can right about now. Except my strongest instinct is to peacefully write my little heart out.

I’ve even thanked the family members who gave me trouble. Whether anything like that happens again between us or not is moot. After all that water under the bridge, there’s just nothing that ripples my pond these days.

Pretty cool, eh?

So…Stephanie Meyer…wherever you are, Good luck, girl. I wish you all the best. I hope you change your mind, but I’ll still be a fan if you don’t.

With much love,

d