My guess is you are wondering if there is a meaning behind the name of my new blog. The answer to that would be yes…but it involves confessing something about myself. A dirty little secret I don’t often share with people. Okay…here it is. I like to look in people’s windows. Not in the way a peeping tom would, so don’t worry. However, I do prefer to do this when I am walking, or driving, at night. Partly because it is dark but also because most people are home at night.
I know this may sound odd to some, but I know I cannot be the only one out there (come on…fess up!). But for those of you that don’t understand this…let me explain. It is not to catch people in the act of doing something that should be private. God forbid… NO! However, when I look in someone’s window I like to imagine what their lives are like. I like to see how they decorate and if they all sit down to dinner together as a family. What I really like is to see whether they spend their evenings watching television or curled up with a good book. See…it is a very innocent curiosity that I have had all my life.
However, I know you are thinking…well that doesn’t explain why she gave her blog that name. Ah yes…but it does. I thought it was time to open my own “drapes”, or life, a little. I just finished writing my first novel, which has been a dream of mine since I was young. In doing so, I found that there is almost nothing that is more exposing than writing. Yes, I write fiction so I make things up. And yes…I can hide behind my characters. But to write, especially with the goal of getting published, it can make you feel very vulnerable.
You open yourself up to, not only self doubt – am I really good enough?. But you also open yourself up to possible rejection. Not only from literary agents, readers, and critics, but a myriad of people in the publishing world. I have heard many writers refer to their manuscript as their child, or becoming attached to their characters. I am no different. Even the most evil character in my book will always hold a special place in my heart. So to put my “child” out there, with the chance she could get rejected…it is hard. Even the name I gave my child, Murder In The Gem State, is at risk of being changed when it gets published. But when a complete stranger walks up to me, my published novel under their arm, and tell me that they could not put my book down…then it will all be worth it.
So there it is…my first post, on my first blog, ever! Hey, I am still in one piece. Okay, this may not be as scary as I thought. I cannot promise that I will divulge a secret in every post, but I will do my best to be interesting enough that you are glad you came and will want to return. But for now…do me a favor…please don’t close your drapes!
My Drapes Are Open 