My Writing Charms

I’m not usually superstitious, but there are a few writing related things that I have come to cherish.

My wrist guards:

I used to only wear them when my wrists were hurting, but now I wear them whenever I write.  Partly because, my wrists stop hurting if I wear them all the time, and partly because I feel so bad ass when I’m wearing them.  I feel like Madonna crossed with Rocky.  Look out manuscript, I’m taking you down!

My headphones:

My headphones are the gateway to my characters.  I love slipping into my headphones, plugging into my playlist and slipping into the world of my manuscript.  The headphones are the gateway, and I find myself wearing them even when I could listen through my speakers.  It’s like having my characters in my head.  I start to freak out when I don’t have them. 

The Muses:

I have rarely met people who are so positive, so supportive, and so generous, not to mention crazy talented.  The Muses make me believe in luck.  How else can I explain the random placement that brought four of us together for a critique group at the exact moment that we needed each other?  How else can you explain how that same conference introduced us to Bret?  How else can you explain all the crazy, wonderful stuff we have shared in the two years since?  Writing was lonely and hard before I met them.  But all that changed after.  The Muses have changed the way I approach writing.  

And, I do have a good luck charm that I cherish.  When SILVER was on submission, and the deadline for publishers to respond was approaching, I was a complete basket case.  I don’t think I’ve ever been as nervous, excited, or just plain distracted.  At the time, SILVER was still titled BANDIA, which is now the name of the series.  I was sitting at my desk at work, when I got this from one of the Muses who was on vacation in Hawaii:

It made me all smiley and teary.  And it worked too!