Insomnia

Fiorella is not at the top of her game.  Despite taking a soothing bath last night, then lying in bed forever and ever, then taking another soothing bath, then wandering downstairs to work on PRINCESS REDLANDER and watch non-prime-time TV, then going upstairs and picking up the workroom, the bathroom, and some of her study, then returning downstairs with a bed pillow and trying to sleep on the couch, Fiorella did not get any sleep last night.

It happens now and then and scares the hell out of Fio each time.  People can die from lack of sleep, and Fio has so many more stories she wants to write.

Why the F*** Not?

Your Fiorella is a born rebel, especially against herself.  All it takes is her making a declaration like "I will never ever use slang or medical terminology for sex organs in my books" to challenge herself to do the same.  Thus while genteel Laurel Harlow, the heroine of Kinkaid House, couldn't even bring herself to say "damn," much less refer to her lover's private parts, Lolly Redlander, the free-wheeling heroine of Princess Redlander (which will probably end up retitled) uses all the words and then some.

Now, the question is whether Fiorella has Lolly using a blue vocabulary because it is in her  character, or whether Fiorella set up the character to use that vocabulary and thus prove herself wrong. 

Fiorella's World

As usual, Fiorella has several special projects going: Princess Redlander, a family business deal, the custom frame for Son's 40"x8" digital painting, Spanish, Mandarin, the planting beds, diet, exercise,  dog training.  Coming up fast on the inside are cleaning out the attic and the garage. How does Fio manage?  Focus and follow-through, prioritizing, and by easy stages. She's now one-third through the first draft of Princess Red (her prime priority), is in a wait-and-watch phase with the business deal, will be hanging son's painting this weekend, puts in a little time daily on each language (plus some review Russian), tends to the planting beds on evenings when the weather or her stamina permit, figures out her meals the day beforehand, and walks the dog up the driveway  to get the mail every afternoon, for  Sonia's sake as well as her own.

And, of course, every morning, she publishes an original Fiorella blog.  Fio is nothing if not steadfast.

Love Scenes

Fio's been deeply enmeshed in the seventh chapter of Princess Redlander this past week, and right now it's getting pretty hot.  Yeah, a big love scene is in the works.

Sex is hard to write.  It's not just the choreography and the emotional content--it's the individuality. Fio strives to make each one of her love scenes unique, just as she strives to make each one of her characters unique--not only within a book, but in every book.

Viewpoint Snippets

Fiorella is amused by all the secessionist talk.  It's like a kid saying that he's picking up his football and going home because he didn't win the game.  But she's horrified by all the blatant racism that's  involved.
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Fiorella is resigned to Rick Perry running for governor again and winning, but she doesn't like it. Surely Texas deserves better.
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Fiorella is tired of politics.  She needs to refocus from the national scene to her own garden and start working on PRINCESS REDLANDER again.

Yee-ha!

It's a wonder that Fiorella first saw the light of day above the Mason-Dixon line because she's a born rebel.  She doesn't take dares, but she does take on challenges.  Tell her there's something she can't do and she'll bust a gut figuring out how. 

"I'd never use precise anatomical terms in a love scene in my romances," she told Friend Katie a couple of months ago.  But even as she said it, she knew she'd contradict herself.  It was just a matter of time, and now Princess Redlander, the second book of her Princess trilogy, features a love scene using precise anatomical terms.

See--Fio even rebels against herself.

Technique

While Fiorella's first five revised chapters of PRINCESS OF BOSQUE BEND are off in New Yawk City being checked out by agent Liza Dawson (cue celestical choir), Fio has been progressing on its sequel, PRINCESS REDLANDER.  Got six good chapters, about 25,000 words, of that sucker in the bag. 

Fio aims at 90,000 words when she's writing a romance, and she works in thirds.  The first third of the story introduces the characters and the situations, and PRINCESS RED is almost to that point.  The second third mixes everything up--it's the complications section.  The third section, of course, resolves everything. 

Happily ever after.

Weighing Priorities

Everyone in RWA knows that one shouldn't enter a manuscript in a writing contest till it's finished, but Fio thought it wouldn't matter if she broke the rule one little, teeny-weeny time. As you know, the improbable happen--the partial, Princess Redlander, finished third behind its prequel, Princess of Bosque Bend, in The Emily. But what you don't know is that Fiorella now has an agent interested who is reading P of BB and wants to see Princess Red.

So Fio's had to fess up and beg for a few days to get the first six chapters of Princess Red in readable form. It will take a couple more months of concentrated effort to write the rest of the story.

Guess we'll have to postpone Sonya's housebreaking.

Up'n at'em

It's a good day and Fiorella is at peace. All is going well right now. She's losing weight again, wrote several pages of PRINCESS REDLANDER yesterday, and is on top of a family business deal. Husband is chainsawing dead trees around the acreage and using the new log-splitter, then building wonderful fires in the fireplace with the fruits of his labor. Son has some job possibilities, has found places to display his art, and has started working on a new piece.

In other words, we're all engaged in worthwhile, productive activities, and that's the secret. Years ago Fio's father implored her to "slow down and smell the roses," but Fio's the sort of person who always has to have a project going.

She suspects you're that way too.