And then what happens?

"Sleepless Night by Natalie Kilany @ Art.com

According to my to-do list, I’m supposed to fix up the outline for Act III. After all the books (published and otherwise) I’ve written, Act III is still the toughest for me to untangle. There are three reasons why: (a) I don't want to let go of that world (Orange County Noir, Hot Tamara, In Between Men), (b) I'm so tired of those characters' problems that I want them to leave me alone (Names I Call My Sister & Friday Night Chicas) and (c) I have a newborn in my house (Switchcraft). But Act III for The Guy Upstairs has plagued me with sleeplessness for the past week and taunted me with questions that I can't yet answer.

So what did I do? I did what any sensibly superstitious woman does and consulted my horoscope which said, “Yet the opportunity before you now is one that deserves to be seized. An imminent alignment from Saturn to Pluto implies you're thinking more than you need to about an idea that just ought to be trusted.”

Today I’m going straight into chapter one and if I keep my nose out of Facebook and Twitter, I’ll get to Act III in about four weeks. Hopefully I'll know what's supposed to happen when I get there.

The Actors' Vow

Sorry for not posting lately. Busy busy with feature stories that need to be written and a new book that won't leave me alone. But my friend, Gina Ravera posted this on Facebook and while us writers don't take to the stage or screen, we reveal ourselves through words.

The Actors' Vow
From Elia Kazan

I will take my rightful place on the stage
And I will be myself.
I am not a cosmic orphan, I have no reason to be timid.
I will respond as I feel; awkwardly, vulgarly,
But respond.
I will have my throat open.
I will have my heart open.
I will be vulnerable.
I may have anything or everything
The world has to offer,
But the thing I need most,
And want most, is to be myself.
I will admit rejection, admit pain, admit shame,
Admit outrage, admit anything and
Everything that happens to me.
The best and most human parts of me are
Those I have inhabited and hidden from
The world.
I will work on it.
I will raise my voice.
I will be heard.

Birthday Gifts

Sometimes birthday gifts come in bags stuffed with colorful tissue paper or wrapped in cellophane and tied with a bow. Others drop out of the sky and end up being the perfect thing you never knew you wanted. This was my surprise:

"Sometimes hanging in there is all it takes to succeed in life as well as in writing. Failure is part of the process, but it doesn't have to be the final destination. "

- Bestselling Author Sabrina Jeffries in a Feb 07 interview in TheMotivatedWriter. com

Take Tea and See

I think it was in April when I met Janice Roper for the first time. For years, Ilona, my mother-in-law, had spoken of her dear friend who came to town to read tea leaves in the art studio. When the Little Dude was born, Janice was one of the first people Ilona called (so she could get his birth chart).

Having grown up in a haunted house and counted pyschics and mediums among my mom's friends, I'm pretty used to this sort of thing. But when I finally got to meet Janice for a tea leaf reading, I was welcomed by a gentle and humorous woman who greeted me like an old friend.

Needless to say, the reading that Janice did for me was incredibly accurate down to the initials of the people who later hired me to write a TV pilot.

Last month, I stopped by the studio where Janice had just finished her last reading and asked if she'd consider writing for this blog. She said yes and I'm so excited to post her first message to us. As an intuitive counselor, Janice combines the ancient art of tea leaf reading with the art and science of astrology to guide individuals in their practical and spiritual paths. So many of you who come to this blog are writers and creatives and Janice will be a monthly source of wisdom and inspiration for all of us.

Enjoy her first of many columns to come!