Hi. If you’ve ever kept a journal, you know that you can use writing as actual emotional and psychological therapy, but in many ways, writing fiction is a better psychological tool. Why? Because your subconscious gets to come out to play and you pretend you’re writing about fictional people. LOL. In the course of creating my nearly 40 books, i’ve learned some interesting things about myself and the ways in which i use my books to heal. Here are a few examples —
- It’s never too late to have a happy childhood — Like many of you I’m sure, i had a very challenging childhood –
– a true model of dysfunction. Sometimes that childhood angst comes out in the form of really bad parents that i create in my books — like in Tackling the Tight End and Knave of Broken Hearts. Just as often, however, i find i create happy homes for my characters and get to act out on the page the things my inner being believes parents should do. Check out Grays’ mom and dad in Prince of the Playhouse and Hunter’s parents in Fire Balls. - I’m deeply ambivalent about organized religion — While i’ve done some form of spiritual practice most of my adult life and know a great deal about a lot of religions, I think the use of organized religion as a tool to tell people they’re right and everyone else is wrong is one of the things i most dislike in the world. That feeling is reflected in books like Knight of Ocean Avenue and Prince of the Playhouse.
I genuinely believe that love is love — As you may know, i’m heterosexual although i write gay romance. As a young woman, i wasn’t an LGBT activist and my own interest in writing gay romance even took me by surprise. But when i looked back, i realized that i’d always had gay and queer friends, some among my closest BFFs, and some of them did not get to have an HEA. I think i fight for them on every page.- For me, justice is Huge! — If you have even a tiny interest in astrology and i tell you i have six planets in Libra, you’ll know that justice is a big deal for me. Those Libra scales rock back and forth. Through my books, in a small way, i get to fight for the equal and just treatment of all people everyday.
- I genuinely believe in happy endings — I married my husband much to the shock of many people. We’re both big personalities and people said it would last a week! That was 30 years ago. HEA isn’t a fairy tale, it’s an attitude. My
readers complain if i don’t give them a wedding! Want a big one? Try Spell Cat. - Authenticity underlines it all — Growing up, i never felt quite real. I always believed that the “real me” would emerge one day and maybe i wouldn’t like her. Then i realized this is it. I’m as me as i’m going to get. Being happy about that and caring less about what others think is a straight line to living an authentic life. All of my heroes strive for that joy — and win! Check Outing the Quarterback for one of the biggest struggles.
That’s my therapy i get to do everyday. I’m so happy that many of you share my therapeutic inventions and enjoy them! My new re-release, Fire Balls, is coming Feb 8th and you can pre-order everywhere NOW. Click HERE for the Amazon link.