Pass Me A Fluffy Bunny

I am currently working on "Created In Fire" which is Book 2 of Art of Love Series. Some books are fluffy bunny stories and easy to write. Others like this one are very hard. Like all the hard books, when the writing is about two-thirds of the way done, I give up on the story, the characters, and myself.  It's always at the point in the story where the most change has to occur, but where there is also the most resistance to changing. Sometimes the characters are suffering or being insufferable. Sometimes the characters are standing with arms crossed refusing to move forward with the original idea I had in mind. While I believe in the possibility of an HEA ending a lot more than most people, I know all too well that it doesn't always get to happen. My characters are skeptical of things working out because I am. Eventually the writing just stops until I figure it out.

Tom Hanks and Julie Roberts teamed up recently to do a new movie called Larry Crowne. Hanks helped write the script. It's about an older ex-Navy guy in this bad economy who loses his job due to his lack of education. So he goes to junior college (aka community college) and falls for one of his teachers. It's using a fluffy bunny love story to tell a harder story of having to reinvent yourself to succeed. The harder story is an important one about something very real happening to a lot of people these days, but it is the love story that provides a dose of hope and laughter to get the character through it. The trailers and clips on Facebook are all about the funny parts of the movie.  I'm also including a interview link that I enjoyed if you're interested in reading what Hanks and Roberts said personally about the movie.

In both my real life and my writing life, I need all the reminders I can get about how change can be a good thing. The last thing I want is more horror, more trauma, or more endlessly long hours spent with little or no hope. A year ago, I was living in hospitals, sleeping on the floor, and taking care of a person I loved who was dying. I did this for months and could not change anything. I've had enough hard stories for a lifetime. In fact, I hereby officially beg the universe to provide all my future life lessons about change in a kind, gentle manner. I would be really happy to have as many as possible be packaged as fluffy bunny, hopeful, funny stories--including my own.

Okay, I'm going back to seriously writing now. In the entire Art of Love series and my recent non-series book, "The Right Thing" (available at e-book retailers now), change is not coming as easily to my damaged heroes and heroines. They need me to show them. Then I swear I'm going to work on another series that is as light-hearted and fun as the Never Too Late one. Well, except for Lauren and Jim in Book 3 which was a bit tough, but it was still full of humor and fun.

So with a big sigh, I'm going back to "Created In Fire" today and fix the mess I created for my characters. After the research I did for this blog, I'm back to believing there's an HEA for Michael and Carrie who are patiently waiting for me to help them find it. Maybe I'll get them to uncross their arms and believe in it, too.