Hi there, guys and dolls!  Welcome back to my weekly blog — nice to see you.  Today, I’m going to talk about having a sense of humor — even at the most awkward of times.  My girls, Andrea and Heather have certainly brought me through the university of life with many more courses to go, being the freshmen that they are ;-)!

It’s very easy to smile and feel blissful when the good news comes in.  Things run smoothly, passages flow like water through the minds and fingertips and a tangible reality takes shape on paper.  People tell you they love what you have created, share your vision for your world, get your jokes, you sell a book or two (or more…) — those are the salad days.  Why, just this week, yours truly connected with a few people and places that I have long admired as well as made a couple of new found friends who like what I have to say.

Then there is the other side that happens, too.  For instance, as the girls are editing away, making great progress on the new Poppy Cove Mystery (DEATH OF A BEAUTY QUEEN, tentative title, mind you…), all of a sudden when two-thirds through a discovery is made that all the formatting went SNAFU, randomly through the whole document…causing delays…ugh.  Other past mini-dramas have occurred, such as working all morning on pages and pages of scenes, really happy with how things went then breaking for lunch, only to come back and realize that the changes weren’t saved…yeah.  Personal issues and outside life makes demands that can’t be avoided or ignored.  Technology doesn’t co-operate.  A review shows up that is just plain bad and lazy; only reason why they rated it low was that they don’t like the genre you write in, nothing is necessarily bad in your story, but it’s not their thing, yet they feel compelled to complain.  A reader contacts you about their personal chip on their shoulder about growing up in the fifties, not happy that you had fun writing your fictional tale.  What’s a girl to do?

Well, laugh!  Pick yourself up, let some things go and look at the bright side — everything is either fixable or stings less over time — all is not lost.  Maybe the universe has better timing than you, what you write on the second round is better than what went missing.   Better reviews and unexpected cheerleaders show up and spread the word just because they plain want to.  By sharing your plight and adventures with others, you bond — making new friends and connections.  Becoming stronger and more human.  That’s a lot for an alter ego to evolve into, isn’t it?

Toodles,

Barbara Jean