Is there a science of invention?
Why is it that a story takes shape in all its detail? From nothing, suddenly the fiction writer knows that one “fact” rings true, while another does not.
The characters live and breathe, and fight and make up. They worry and grieve and try, and try again, until they triumph.
From the nebulae of unformed words, a tale arrives, bit by bit, but as solid as a rock.
Some of the scenes come to life overnight, in the world of dreams, and I wake and scramble to capture them. I scrawl spidery words across the notepad in the dark, in haste, lest they whirl away again.
At these times, the sensation of invention is timeless, weightless and compelling. It has been described as “flow” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It’s the joy experienced at times by conductors of orchestras, by surgeons and artists.
I also experience flow when immersed in a really good book or movie, and catching up with friends.
Thank you
I cannot thank you enough for the interest you have shown in the romantic fortunes of the Huntleys and in my writing.
Your words of encouragement, your feedback and gentle suggestions, the typos you have uncovered and your requests for more tales have propelled me to create a sequel.
Full House, the fifth book in the House of Jewels series of international heartwarmers based on the romantic fortunes of the Huntley family of jewelers, will bring all of the characters together.
It’s part slog and part dream as I sift through the 50,000 or so words I’ve already written in a start-stop fashion over too many months. I prune and sort and join them, and then add other scenes as I keep trying to tell this next story in the saga in a way that introduces new readers to the family.
As the “flow” kicks in, the story is racing and tripping its way to a conclusion I hope will satisfy!
After Full House? A new “Beach” series calls, full of fresh characters. Watch this space.
In the meantime, special thanks to those of you who enjoy my books and have found a moment to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub, social media or elsewhere. Your words help other readers to find them.
(By the way, book 4, House of Clubs, is now available on Kindle on Amazon. I thank the VIPs who alerted me to the technical hitch which had prevented this earlier.)
Meet Roxie the writer
Roxie Clarke lives near Portland, Oregon, with her husband and five children. Her sweet romances feature “houseplants, hunky heroes, and happily ever afters” as well as some larger than life heroines.
You can find out more about a Valentine’s Day gift gone wrong in Roxie’s creation The Sweetheart Plant.
Free and affordable clean romance deals
Speaking of Valentine’s Day, there are more romance deals than ever.
You might like to enter this Sweet Romance Giveaway competition run by AuthorsXP. (You’ll see my House of Diamonds there, in e-book and paperback, along with other clean and wholesome romances.)
I’m delighted to join other clean romance authors in this Be Mine collection of affordable sweet reads.
And here’s another tempting array of sweet reads in case they’re your cup of tea!
As if that were not enough, you’ll find my House of Spades rural romance among this mix of romances on the sweeter side.
Please feel free to share all of these links with your friends and family. After all, what’s not to love about an uplifting ending?
Happy reading!