Many thanks to Delilah for having me over at her blog today!

I tell you, being an author is hard work. No, it is. If you think of an author’s brain like a bucket, it makes sense.

To write a book, you have to pour the words out of the writer’s brain, like water from a bucket. Sometimes you can pour it really fast, and sometimes there’s legos and cookies and whole people who block the flow. Sometimes your arms just can’t hold the bucket. Sometimes the bucket is empty. And sometimes the bucket is full of beer and all you want to do is stand on your head and drown in it.

The bucket empties sometimes. In the middle of a book, usually. At times like that, you have two choices. Choice one, you can try to refill your bucket. You can grab a new book, watch a movie, or play a video game. The idea is to immerse yourself in someone else’s storytelling. By losing yourself in someone else’s words, it sometimes makes it easier to make words of your own. Feeding the muse so she can work.

But if your bucket runs out and your deadline looms, you have only one alternative.

You have to bore a hole in the bottom of your bucket, and pour your body and soul right through it. You have to dig deep, throw in everything you’ve got. It’s not easy. It hurts like hell. But it’s the only way to get things done in time. And it also can produce some of the most raw and important writing you’ll ever do.

Readers can tell when you pour your soul into a book. That’s not to say that muse-fueled words aren’t awesome, because they are. But that seasoning of desperation can flavor your book, like a good sear on a steak. Of course, sometimes you leave it too long and that sear turns to burn. The key is to find balance, and to get things done the best way you can.

In my latest book, CAUGHT IN CRIMSON, Delia learns a little something about leaving things a bit too late. As a red witch, she has to have a consort, especially now that she’s being tapped as her coven’s High Priestess. But it’s not as easy as just putting down her head and barreling through things, especially with a sexy man standing in her way.

Do you have something to do that you just can’t finish? Is it a brain-bucket issue, or something more like Delia’s facing? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!