Author Vs. Athlete

As the Olympics draw to a close, I'm constantly making comparisons between my profession and that of these athletes. It's so different from the way the Olympics used to be, when there were no big contracts available, and the cost of training, equipment and travel had to come from the family. There was no question that the athlete would retire from the sport after their one big outing and begin to draw a paycheck. Some of today's athletes are career Olympians, fully funded by corporate dollars, and have been on this world stage three or four times before. Sometimes they stay too long, and their gold medals slip from their grasp the second or third time around. It has to be hard for them to accept the inevitable, since their time in the limelight fades while they're still young.

This is where being an author is different from being an athlete. Any one, at any age, can write a novel, if they're so inclined. I participated in an author panel discussion last week, and afterwards another silver-haired lady came up to me and told me I was an inspiration to her. She had just turned eighty, and thought she'd waited too long to write the book of her heart.

Photos courtesy of Amanda Uhl. Thanks, girl!

Our muscles are on the inside. Our outsides may not be the sleek, rippled machines I've been seeing on the TV screen over the past two weeks, but unlike those hard bodies, in most cases, the mind doesn't care how old you are. It's never too late to begin learning the craft of writing. Danielle Steel is still cranking out books at age 69. She's not retiring from the spotlight anytime soon. Susan Elizabeth Phillips is 67, Stephen King is 68, as is Jude Deveraux. Nora Roberts has had a schedule of publishing six books a year for quite some time. She's in her 50s, and has no plans to slow down.

So, even though I've enjoyed the Olympics, and have admired the hard bodies of these athletes, I feel a bit sorry for them, since my muscle will continue to work regardless of my age. At least that's the plan.

TRR's Blog Hop--Day 8--Jude Deveraux

Of course, no tribute to writers who inspire me would be complete without mentioning Jude Deveraux. She is the one who first introduced me to time travel, a sub-genre I've come to adore. A Knight in Shining Armor has a place on my 'forever' shelf. Even though it's not the first book Jude wrote, and by no means her last, it holds a special place in my heart.

In the course of my many moves around the country, I lost the original version of this book and had to replace it with a later edition. In her notes in the front of the book, Jude explained that, after the initial release, some of her faithful followers were bothered by certain elements of the book, and she was glad for the opportunity to be able to make changes. So, even though I adored this book, the author saw room for improvement. That taught me a lot about how a manuscript is never finished. Now, when I think I'm done with a manuscript, I put it away for a couple days. When I pull it back out, I can invariably find something to correct. And I'm still dying to do what Jude did to write this book--hide away in a cabin in the woods for four months. I hope Jude inspires you, too..

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Romance Madness Hop--January 25-29, 2013

Romances We Love

How can you narrow it down?

When asked to write about one book that I love, I struggled for a few days with the assignment. Then, I decided, even though it meant more work on my part, I’d devote each day of the hop to an author who influenced me. First up is Jude Deveraux.

I read A Knight in Shining Armor in 1989, when I was consuming romance books like they were Skittles, and instantly fell in love with it, and with the whole concept of time travel. Douglass is the perfect heroine, flawed and lovable. And Nicholas—the knight in shining armor, literally. Sigh.

Along the way, in one of my moves or the other, I purged some of my mountain of books and Jude’s book fell by the wayside. But I never forgot it. When she re-released it in 2002, I purchased it again and it’s now a part of my permanent collection. She included a few pages on what her process was while writing it. She closeted herself away for three and a half months in a cabin in the Pecos Wilderness in New Mexico to write the book. I used to own a log cabin in the George Washington National Forest in West Virginia and have often thought I’d love to go back there and write a book. I’m now working on a time travel…

I’m offering a $5 gift card to one lucky commenter at the end of this blog hop, which will run from January 25-January 29. Tell me who your favorite author is and why. Then click on the Romance Madness icon on the right side of this page to visit other stops on this tour. And stop back here again tomorrow to see who’s next on my list of favorites.