by Laura Lee Guhrke

When Avon asked me to do a blog about my new book, WITH SEDUCTION IN MIND, my first reaction was to groan. Not because I hate to blog. Ok, I do, but that’s not why. It’s because I’m the writer and, by the time one of my books comes out in stores, I’ve moved on.

I’m in the middle of a whole new story, and I don’t even really remember what the previous book was about. All I know is, it’s not the book that’s under deadline now. But when I flipped back through the pages of WITH SEDUCTION IN MIND, when I re-read about Sebastian, the famous but cynical novelist with writer’s block, and Daisy, the fresh-faced wannabe, and how they fall in love despite the fact that they are forced to write together, I realized I had a great blog topic: Biting Off More Than You Can Chew (also known as: Oh, Crap, I’ll Never Make This Work).

You see, when I started WITH SEDUCTION IN MIND, I did it with the absolute certainty that writing about writers would be easy. I thought sure I’d make my deadline because I know this topic cold. “Write what you know,” people say, and I figured that made sense. Until I tried it. And that’s when I realized that writing about writers is really, really hard. The reason, of course, is because writers are crazy.

Seriously, though, it was a lot harder to show two writers falling in love than I thought it would be. Sebastian and Daisy collaborate, they fight, they seduce each other. They also finish their books, fall in love, and live happily ever after, but how I got them to that happy ending still baffles me, because they also procrastinate, hate writing as much as they love it, welcome any possible distraction, and fear the whole time they’re doing it wrong and their writing is crap.

In other words, they’re sort of like...me. Because of that, telling their story was a lot harder than I thought and I learned to never assume something’s gonna be easy, because the minute you do, you find yourself in deep trouble. As for making my deadline...well, maybe we’d better not talk about that. My editor reads this blog, you know.

What about you? Is there any project you’ve taken on that you thought would be a piece of cake, only to find out it was harder than you thought? What did you do about it? What did it teach you?

5 Comments:

Blogger Gwynlyn said:

I have a quote on my office wall by Margaret Chittenden that reads: Lots of people hear voices. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Some of them are called writers and mostly they do the same thing.

Guess that explains your difficulty with Sebastian and Daisy!

Looking forward to discovering how you got them to their HEA.

11:43 AM  

Blogger StaceyC4 said:

Absolutely - more than I can chew? Homeschooling my older child. He's 17 now, a senior in high school, and all of a sudden I'm like "Holy Crap! I have to get him in to college!!"

A. I am too young to be preparing a kid for college
B. Writing transcripts sucks
C. Did you know it isn't cool for your mom to go with you to college interviews??

I do now.

12:16 PM  

Anonymous Kerrelyn Sparks said:

I've got to get this book! It sounds fun and intriguing! I love all your books, Laura Lee, so on some level, you must know what you're doing!! LOL

Kerrelyn, who also lives with doubt, distraction, and procrastination...argh!

12:09 PM  

Blogger Terri Molina said:

I'm currently one-third of the way through my third novel. I originally wrote it as a short story and when I completed it, decided to turn it into a novel. This...has not been easy, to say the least. Also, it's out of my "comfort zone" because it's more thriller/susspense than romantic suspense, which is usually what I write.
There are so many days I want to give up on the book then I get an epiphany and go forward with it. I think the only thing saving me right now is that I *don't* have a deadline. =)

1:25 PM  

Blogger Laura Lee Guhrke said:

Morning, all! Gwynlyn, I love that Margaret Chittenden quote, too! You might be interested to know that in WITH SEDUCTION IN MIND, every chapter begins with a quote from a famous writer (including the hero). Stacey, I can't imagine home schooling kids. That's a challenge for sure! Thanks, Kerrelyn, for the kudos. It's much appreciated. Terri, stick with it. You've written two books before, so you know you can do it. Just keep plugging away.

12:11 PM  

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