Being the Boss of the Voices in Your Head

There’s always a story in my head waiting to be let out. Some start with a single line or idea, and those are the stories that I tend to figure out as I go along. I’m pantster who became a plotter after years of doing National Novel Writing Month and being frustrated when I inevitably hit a block at about 30k words. Having an outline to follow allows me to make it past that block, because if I’m stuck on one scene I can skip it and move on to the next. It also helps me to plan my daily word count and better gauge how long it will take me to finish a first draft.

But it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes a scene or a particular character will get stuck in my head. Patience, the heroine of Fire in the Blood, was like that. Once she popped into my head she refused to leave. That was a problem, because her book wasn’t next on my schedule. She may be named Patience, but she really doesn’t have any to speak of. She wanted me to tell her story, and she had it all planned out from beginning to end. Patience wasn’t leaving until I wrote Fire in the Blood.

I tried ignoring her. I tried sticking to my schedule and forging ahead with the book I was supposed to be working on. I wanted to be the boss of the voices in my head, and I was losing that battle. So I tried a new tactic—I gave in. But only a little. I gave her two weeks, and then I switched to the book I was scheduled to write. It got the urge to work on her book out of my system and it allowed me to get back on track. Once I finished that book (Poison in the Blood, which will be out from Samhain next year), I returned to Patience’s story and finished it up.

The process taught me that sometimes it’s okay to give in to your inner voices. Plot bunny bothering you? Maybe you should chase it—but just for a bit. We all go a little mad sometimes. Writing the idea down can stop that plot bunny from stalking you, and it might even learn a little patience.

Patience Roberts is the last summoner standing between magiciankind and certain demon invasion. After banishing two or three demons a day for too long, gods know she’d like nothing better than a little down time with her number one distraction—Faust.

But with vampires, hunters and assassins lined up to take her out, who has the time? Still, she has to admit her resistance to the amorous faerie is wearing thin. Not that she’ll ever let on—after all, faeries are notorious for their short romantic attention spans.

Faust, a Shadowspawn faerie, watched as his outcast clan dwindled to nothing. Determined to hold on to the woman he loves, he’ll do whatever it takes to protect Patience. And one day build a life with her.

When an old demon enemy punches through the barrier between the worlds, Patience must draw on every ounce of her reputation as a cast-iron bitch to temporarily banish him. To get rid of him for good, she’ll have to sacrifice one too many pieces of her soul to leave room for love…

Warning: Contains a hero and heroine so hot they’re literally on fire, naughty faerie sex, post-coital cuteness, angsty magician drama, and yet more gratuitous violence against vampires, demons, and innocent furniture.

Fire in the Blood is available now from Samhain, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. You can find out more about Robyn’s writing at her website, Facebook page, or Twitter.