Mysterious Musings

One of the struggles I’ve had as a writer is finding time to write. During the work week, I leave the house about 7:30, commute an hour and 15 minutes, put in a full day of work and commute back. On a good day, this commute/work/commute routine takes about 12 hours. Then I feed the dogs and myself and … I’m exhausted. 

I’m sure that many writers face similar challenges. Add in a couple kids and I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be. 

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, the author of “Pen on Fire,” offers some great advice to writers who think they are too busy to write. First, she suggests looking at what time you do have and how you use your time, For example, how much time am I spending surfing the Net? or watching TV? 

Then she suggests considering using one of these identified chunks of time to … write. 

In addition, DeMarco-Barrett cautions against holding out for some great uninterrupted space of WRITING TIME. Instead, she says, look for 15 minute bits of time. She actually had us do a rapid writing exercise that was wonderful — and it took about seven minutes. 

I used this strategy yesterday when I was getting my car serviced. I walked from the mechanics down to the local Starbucks and ordered an iced chai with soy. Then I plugged in my old Mac laptop and plunged into a scene. An hour later, when I got the call about my car being ready, I didn’t want to leave. I finished the scene and felt great. 

So now I’m looking for more 15-minute, 30-minute and 45-minute bits of treasured writing time. 

Give it a try and let me know if it works for you!

This weekend I tweeted about my participation at the California Crime Writers Conference. Minutes later, I had a new follower — Drew Peterson. 

Yes, that Drew Peterson — the former Illinois cop accused of murdering a wife or two. 

Now I’m wondering. Do accused and incarcerated inmates have access to twitter from prison? Or maybe Peterson’s defense team is using social media to get their message out? Or perhaps someone has just grabbed the Drew Peterson name for the publicity? 

Help me please … I want to know …

I spent the weekend at the California Crime Writers Conference, a joint effort between Sisters in Crime – LA and the Mystery Writers of America, Southern California chapter. It was wonderful — worth every penny and every minute. I left inspired and informed. 

In the next few blog posts, I will share some of the wisdom I learned from the smart, engaging and amazingly generous panelists at the event. First some overall thoughts. 

1. I’ve never attended a more interesting and amazing conference. 

2. I’ve never met a group of people who were more creative and friendly.

3. I can’t wait to read the books I bought and I can’t wait to write!

Hello. 

This is a blog for anyone who loves a mystery — a good read, an exciting movie, a perplexing moment in history or in science. 

This is a blog for anyone who has ever gotten so absorbed in a book that they forgot to go to work. This is a blog for anyone who has ever thought, “Spontaneous combustion? Yikes, could that happen to me?” This is a blog for anyone who has ever seen a Ouija board at a haunted cemetery in the woods and felt the excitement in the swaying tree limbs overhead. 

This is a blog for anyone who has ever wondered — and then gotten really scared. 

This is a blog for people who worry. Like, perhaps, you see  an ambulance parked in the middle of a sandy desert and two paramedics out there throwing a baseball back and forth. Most people would think, “good for them — getting exercise when they can.” We think: “Did they forget the patient being transported to the hospital for the kidney transplant?”

This is for you and me, the way our imaginations get us in trouble sometimes.

But would we ever have it any other way?