In Love with My Lead

Facebook Life

CHAOS is the word of the day.

Social Media has made life come to this, but now that I am back in Writer's mode, it is a blessed relief to step off that noisy, over-crowded bandwagon of info overload and concentrate on things less Mayhem and Madness.

Less time spent on FB and Twitter has helped to lower stress levels dramatically. I can feel it health-, sleep-, and attitude-wise.

The more you write (and READ) the better your skills become. This is a proven fact that also makes me feel a lot more confident about, and proud of, my work.

After doing a ton more reading than Social Media browsing, I am getting a better grasp of the Show versus Tell dilemma. It doesn't elude me as much as it once did, but I am still not quite there yet. At least now when it crops up, I am better able to recognize it and remedy the situation.

It would be a terrific time for me to join the #NaNoWriMo gang and crank out the 50k all month, but I opted out for the same reasons I have backed away from Social Media. I did a #JuNoWriMo in 2014 and liked it, but it was also a little stressful.

This time around, I am not going to let anything or anyone stand in the way of my progress -- least of which would be anything that induces stress. I just need, and desire, to walk away from that chaos in order to concentrate on my writing.

Sometimes, Facebook actually steers me in the right direction. When I visited my Author Page this morning, the following messages were lined up in a row on my feed:

And, they are all surprisingly apropos with how I feel or have felt for months now, too.

A gradual build-up of shit, nonsense, antagonism, hate, injustice, bad karma, Murphy's law, and anti this or that being shoved in my face day in and day out until I started 'un' friend-ing or not following folks -- and worse -- adding snarky, devil's advocate remarks to their BS posts.

SO, now that I'm back to the wonderful world of writing, those issues will work themselves out and my life as I see it now will change back to what it is meant to be: the zany, fantastical world of make-believe.

And, I'm JUST as pleased to report that I have a serious crush on my leading man, Inigo (still no surname).

Last night, I left him on a comfy sofa in a pair of silk boxer shorts with a bowl of Cheerio's, watching a recorded Rugby match on a wide-screen inside his transformed childhood home.

Now, I ask you, is this NOT hella better than anything Social Media can throw at you? :D

I miss him already, went to bed last night dreaming about his next move, and woke up this morning with a few ideas for how I can mess up his life even more.

He's a things-always-fall-into-place leading man with just as much misunderstood  going on to make him look bad, feel worse, and want to rebel even more.

I have him retiring from the Rugby team due to injuries. He decides to head back home on his Ducati - a grueling trip from Winnipeg to Northern Lower Michigan that takes two days to accomplish.

When he gets home, it is really late and he can't even remember the last few miles of the trip.

Everything has changed in the ten years that he's been gone, too. The house, its occupants, and some of his memories -- but not his oldest brother, Iliya, who is there when Inigo is awakened by a bad dream about his last day inside that house.

He and Iliya get into a fight first thing, and then Inigo is ordered to pick up a friend of their youngest sister at the airport.

Inigo is beat, filthy from the ride, and could still use a few more hours of sleep as well as some food, but Iliya is insistent and Inigo can't find the strength to argue.

He makes a bad first impression on Linley, the leading lady, by first mispronouncing her name and then frightening her into thinking he is about to kidnap her. He looks and feels like shit, is starving and lightheaded, but isn't the sort to behave cross or snippy -- it just isn't in his DNA to be rude.

I'm pleased with the way things are moving along.

After thinking about this story for MONTHS, it stands to reason that at least some of it will sound great in print.

I just hope I'm able to recognize my shortcomings each and every time and fix them so that the words resonate, the actions flow smoothly, and readers will consider it a definite page-turner.

It would be terrific, too, if they adored Inigo as much as I do.

So, 6,982 words into Story #3 - Inigo's Love Life - I feel better about a lot of things.

MORE TO COME . . .