As you may have noticed, I’m back. I’ve slowly re-established a social media presence (beyond reporting my daily Wordle result!), updated my landing page, and revised a scene or two for the new novel. Some blog posts have unfurled. It’s been a time to be gentle with myself and manage expectations, my own as well as other people’s. 

Creativity When You Don’t Feel Creative

Writers are not machines, and creation requires more than the time and laptop computer to do so. While some of the people some of the time can burrow into their art to escape stress, most of the time, for me anyway, that doesn’t work. I become very task oriented and can only understand concrete concepts. If I did manage some fiction, I doubt it would be original or entertaining. 

When life conditions are less than ideal, creativity becomes the art of the possible. What was possible for me over the past few months?

Tasks, Lists, and Doodling

• Service: My writing volunteer work (with my local writers’ guild) consists of discrete tasks, easily put on a list, scheduled, and time managed. I attended online meetings, emailed potential workshop speakers, and organized panels for a convention.
• Paid work: I continued writing book reviews for Independent Book Review during the months I was caring for a sick relative. This task only required me to read (I can almost always read) and write according to the specific “house-style” of the website. My work felt affirming. I proved to myself I could function, at least in a small way, professionally.
• Self-help books on visual arts: This activity was a serendipitous accident. I’d received The Artist’s Way for Christmas and was already working through it when my routine changed so drastically. It was a comfort to think, write, and draw about Creativity with a Capital C. I followed it with Wreck This Journal. A delightful journey that I’ll talk about more, later. It’s been inspirational. 

Don’t miss The Big Cinch from Montag Press, a supernatural noir adventure by Kathy L. Brown. Sean Joye, a fae-touched young veteran of 1922’s Irish Civil War, aims to atone for his assassin past and make a clean, new life in America. Until he asks the wrong questions… 

What do you do with your art when life throws you a curve? Comment on the blog. (Find the blog entry on my website, kathylbrown.com, click on the title, and enter your comment on the dialogue box that will open at the end of the post.) Thanks!           

If you enjoyed this journal entry, you might like to read about Grounding Yourself Through Writing.

I started this blog thread on the gritty details of the writing process over on my Facebook Author page, @kbkathylbrown, but think I might be better served putting it over here. If you’re interest in following my writing process in an informal way, you’ll find a few posts on Facebook that might interest you. You can subscribe to the blog from the website landing page (scroll down).

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor

Check out the new release from Montag Press, The Big Cinch, a supernatural noir adventure by Kathy L. Brown. Order today. Sean Joye, a fae-touched young veteran of 1922’s Irish Civil War, aims to atone for his assassin past and make a clean, new life in America. Until he asks the wrong questions. . . 

Love Letters to St. Louis is an adorable letter-shaped volume of short stories, poems, essays, and illustrations and includes my first science fiction story, “Welcome to Earthport Prime: A Self-Guided Tour.” A perfect gift and profits benefit the guild’s young writers’ program. Available on Amazon and local St. Louis bookshops.

Reviews, even a line or two, put the books you enjoyed in a more prominent position on Amazon and are vital for independent and small-press books to find their audience. Remember your most recent read? Leave a review for it on Amazon or Goodreads today. The direct link to review Wolfhearted on Amazon is here, The Resurrectionist, here , and Water of Life, here, or visit my Shop off the landing page menu to review at Barnes and Noble. Thanks in advance. Reviews put the book in a more prominent position on Amazon.

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