Clearly I have been absent from this blog for a long while.  So long that it might appear that I’ve abandoned the world of writing romance.  That isn’t exactly the case but I have certainly transformed myself, my approach to writing, and WHAT I’m writing.  So much so, that I’m contemplating changing the name of this blog. 

Here are some blog titles I would have written during this time:

“I’m a Full Time Writing Student”

“Enjoying the Fine Art of READING For Fun Again”

“Finding My Footing in a New Genre”

“I NEED My Fanny in Order to Have My Fiction!”

Back in the spring I started a journey that has transformed me and left me more excited and energized about writing and my current WIP than I can ever remember.  This has evolved over a series of steps.

Step One: Online writing courses.  Since the beginning of the year I have taken 7 online writing courses.  Topics: Jane Austen, Past Life Regression, Senses, Rules of Six (TAKE THIS ONE, WRITERS!), Writing Category Romance, Book In A Week (TAKE THIS ONE TOO!) and Deep Story Techniques (don’t walk RUN to this one!)

Step Two:  Read and watch TV for enjoyment.   I took a break from my current projects and went in search of inspiration outside of what I thought was my comfort zone.  Instead of only reading the work of published authors in my target line, I broadened my reading scope and it led me in a new direction and to the genre that I was most likely meant to live in for a long while.  I’m currently working on a YA Fantasy that I hope will evolve into a series.  It is still set in my perfect Jersey shore town of Audubon Springs…sort of.  I’ll explain a bit more about my very special 16 yr olds in future blog posts.  For anyone that isn’t familiar, YA stands for Young Adult.  The most obvious example out there right now is the Twilight series, but I am NOT writing about vampires! 

Step Three: My fanny.  Okay…I know that I’ve made my fanny the…um…ur…butt of several jokes on this blog, but I think I finally understand why I blogged about it in the first place.  I joined Weight Watchers this summer (again) to lose the same damn fifteen pounds I’ve been gaining and losing my entire life.  Honestly, I didn’t think that I had time to juggle counting points, exercising and writing, but I discovered an amazing thing…when I’m eating better and exercising, my ideas flow much faster and come to me more fully formed.  In fact, I have flown off the elliptical on numerous occasions in order to attack the notepad or computer to get the idea down.  In fact since the second week in October when I started the first draft of my WIP, I have written 45,000 words.  That is pretty darn fast for me! 

In essence, while I’ve been absent from this blog, I haven’t been absent from writing.  It has been a part of my every moment whether consciously or subconsciously.  All this transformation talk doesn’t mean that I plan to abandon my previous work.  I still believe in and love those stories with all my heart.  I’m determined to find them a home for publication.  In the coming weeks, I plan to start the process of pulling them from the current editorial office where they have been sitting for far too long without any activity and submit them to other houses that previously showed interest.  Another development in this transformation is a Pen Name!  I have wrestled with this but now that I will be seeking publication in two genres, I decided that these YA Fantasies with Romantic Elements will carry my real name and Desiree Rose will pen my Contemporary Romances.  What do you think of the name?