Unlike the Midwest and East Coast, the Puget Sound, where I live, has had mild weather (and not even a whole lot of rain in recent weeks). The temps have been in the 50s, with sunshine coming through (and we’ve been very confused about it!). So yeah, it’s been in the mid-50s, the sun’s out … and what am I doing? I’ve been yearning for spring. Yes, I’m looking forward to mid-50s and … rain. That’s what spring is here in the Seattle area: pretty much what we’re having right now, plus rain.

Why is this? Why can’t I enjoy the weather we’re having NOW? Because it’s the wrong season! In February, we should be having chills and even icy rain! Seriously, when we have nice weather (dry, that is) around here during the winter, when we look at the surrounding mountains and we don’t see the peaks gleaming white, it’s bad news, because that could mean we’ll be facing a water shortage come summer.

So my desire to have spring come has a rational, logical basis. Or so I tell myself.

To tell you the truth, while a water shortage during the summer is something to worry about, I’m looking forward to spring because of a typically springy thing: flowers. I’m not a big garden person, mainly because I start sneezing, but I found myself looking forward to the golden profusion of daffodils that we get around here toward the end of March (but if the weather doesn’t cooperate, we may have it much earlier than that!).

So no matter how your weather’s been, whether the groundhog saw his shadow (I hear he did) In Pennsylvania, whether you had to slog through ice and snow and freezing temps, I think it’s unanimous: WE WANT SPRING!

Eilis Flynn
ECHOES OF PASSION on sale now!

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I thought I’d share with others what one of the reviewer sites are doing. This is from The Book Queen. She’s hosting several covers that authors have sent in that they like. Guardian Angel, of course, is my choice. I’ve always loved this cover. Here’s the link to view more:

The Book Queen’s Blog: http://tbqspersonalbookpalace.blogspot.com/2010/01/lusting-for-covers-5.html

Enjoy!

Lise

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I realized the other day why it’s taking me so long to get into writing my new book. I’m tapped out. No, not of story lines. I’ve got those up the wazzoo. Is that how you spell wazzoo? Well, I’m spelling it that way. What was my point? Oh, right, tapped out. I’ve spent so much time pouring every spare moment into my writing that I’d almost given up, no, I had given up all the other creative outlets I enjoyed. I hadn’t knit anything in almost two years. I’d always enjoyed taking photographs, but rarely picked up a camera to take photos of my kids, even. Reading? I’d forgotten what that was.

So after I finished the last book and got it off to market, my brain just

stopped working. It went blank when I sat down at the computer. I tried to cover with my friends. “Oh, yeah, I’m plotting.” Mmm-hmmm. I meant plotting to outwit my 3 year old, not the book. So, for some crazy reason, right before Christmas when we took the kids up to the mountains for a few days I grabbed my knitting needles and an odd skein of yarn to work on in the car on the drive. I also brought my computer. I didn’t even crack that puppy open for the entire trip. Instead I knit my nephew a hat. I’ve knitted five more since then. Not all for my nephew, which he is extremely thankful for, I’m sure. That act of creating was like taking a deep breath after holding

my breath for months.

I told my husband I wanted a camera for Christmas months ago. I had no idea how much I was going to love it. It’s another creative outlet. I have taken some of the best pictures of my kids with my new Rebel–fabulous close-ups, action shots. I’ll never take them to a professional again. And nature photos? That was the reason I got the camera, after all. I’ve taken some absolutely stunning photos of the sunset and sunrise through our trees. (I have a thing for trees. There, I said it.)

I’ve been working on the newsletter for a local charity with a program on my new computer, and I’m using the same program to help my son with a major school project. Writing, finding and inserting photos, learning a new program, it’s great! Next up is my website. I’m going to completely redo it.

So the moral is, I’m rejuvenated. I feel creative again. I am artist, hear me roar. Well, you know. But the truth is that I need these other things to keep the creative side of my brain (is that right or left? I can never get that straight) working. Writing isn’t enough. Writing taps the well, and

helps to refill it. But there has to be other sources or it’s just not enough.

I’ve created a playlist for this new book because I love music. It speaks to me, another creative outlet in a way, I suppose, although I can’t sing or write music. But enjoying it, listening to it, interpreting it, is a creative endeavor, I think. I haven’t tried a playlist before. So far, it’s really helping me stay in the story. It’s a mix of all kinds of music from jazz to country, and it’s inspiring a lot of creativity with this book. I’m also typing the book on Scrivener, another new program for me. So I’ve got the creative and the learning sides of my brain working together.

What do you do to keep the creative well full? Or the battery charged? (See, I did know. But I thought it would be funny.)

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Steve Jobs has long been one of my heroes — I never thought I’d admit that in public, but there it is. The hero of my first book was based on him (now an online graphic novella, many decades after it was first written), and everytime Apple came up with something new, I’d have to find out more about it. And yesterday’s big reveal of the iPad (oy, such a name!) was no exception. Is it the greatest thing that’s ever been invented? Probably not — the wheel’s position on the list is still safe — but it’s a jump forward in the hopscotch of technology.

Notable among the complaints is what it can’t do. It’s not set up for multitasking. It’s slow. It’s not a laptop. It’s an overgrown iPod touch (incidentally, am I the only one stumbling over that “touch” not being capitalized?). But it’s also been pointed out that it’s not supposed to be those things — it’s a jump forward, it’s not man-on-the-moon leap forward. And it’s the reveal, the beginning. I have no doubt that it’s going to be fine-tuned in coming months and years.

I’m so embarrassed. I sound like an evangelist for Apple, and I don’t even have that much stock.

Anyway, it’s still an infant. Give it time. Five years from now, like an iPod or an iPhone, it’s going to be different, and it may even be in your hand. (Truth in commentary: I have neither an iPod nor an iPhone. We have a touch, but we got it as a premium for buying a car. We are VERY slow in adapting. So by the time the iPad overcomes its original problems, we may consider one.)

I’m not sure I should mention we still have an Apple Newton. Remember those? It’s around here somewhere. But it has its own place in that hopscotch board.

Eilis Flynn
INTRODUCING SONIKA, ECHOES OF PASSION
Now available on Kindle

Tags: Apple, graphic novellas, iPad, technology

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