THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY - Rebecca Buckley's Blog

Thursday, May 31, 2012

SO MUCH GOING ON ...

It's incredible how much time passes in the blink of an eye and how many thoughts inundate one's mind in a day's time. Most days I feel completely energized and sometimes overwhelmed. Overwhelmed in a good way though, in an exciting way, with all the joys of accomplishments, and the wonderful things each day brings.  Let me try and explain it better ...

Okay, it's like I'm on the brink or edge of something, almost like waiting for a race to begin, leaning forward at the starting line, my heart is pumping, my adrenalin is surging.  I feel joyous, and eager, and ready to go. This is all the time.   Crazy, huh?  No it isn't the beginnings of a heart attack. lol lol  It's how I feel most of the time, like something is driving me forward, continually.

And it isn't confined to the efforts of my writing, but of course it definitely affects it too, and the publishing, and the marketing, and so forth, everything business-wise benefits from my insatiable drive.  But it's part of my everyday life, too. I feel as if I've been wound up and am gaining momentum minute by minute.  Like I need to hurry because I'll run out of time. And no, I don't take drugs. Coffee, yes. Hey, maybe it's the coffee.  You think?  Nah.

I do have down times though, when all that energy is depleted, when I run out of steam, for you can't keep up that mental pace indefinitely. Usually I take a nap or just lie down for a bit, or watch a movie, watch the news, but then I'm up and back at it again. At night I'll read to give my body and mind a rest. But sometimes what I'm reading will spark a thought and there I go again.  Spinning round and round, where she goes, nobody knows . . .

  


Monday, May 14, 2012

JUST SAYIN' . . .

I read a post on Facebook today that had such merit to it, I feel like adding something of my own.

We know we're going in the right direction, are learning how to move forward successfully on our own path of enlightenment, when we are able to repel the lashing actions and retorts of others - sometimes reactive, sometimes blatant.  It's taken me many years to learn how to within a few minutes recover from such onslaughts or unkindness.  And usually the other person doesn't realize the impact of their attack, however minor or deliberate or not.

This helps me when being confronted by them . . . take a good look at the why and when and you can usually figure out the reason for their onslaught. And it's usually not a reaction to what you've done or said, but a reaction to something in their own psyche, something they've not learned to deal with, something going back to another time that doesn't have anything to do with you. In almost every case this is true.

I remember how I used to let my feelings get hurt at every turn. But now, in the very few times it gets close to happening, maybe once or twice a year, I apply the above to the situation. And like I said, within minutes I'm able to move on as if it never happened. No more am I bogged down with someone else's emotional baggage.

Certainly something new can be learned in almost every human exchange, however, so I do record it objectively. Human nature is a complex, frustrating, emotional entity. Observing how it works in ourselves and others can be liberating. 

Writers, take heed . . . it's also homework for developing characters in our stories.   The more we study ourselves and others, the more we have to write about. My storehouse containing decades of observations is absolutely full to the brim.  

Friday, May 11, 2012

DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART

Early this morning I finished reading Dean Koontz's DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART.  Koontz never fails to surprise me, scare me, enlighten me, make me think. I thoroughly admire his writing talent.  Oh to be able to write like that! 

Koontz writes the sight, smell, touch and feeling of every moment and every situation.  Something all of us  need to heed as we write.  Very few do just that.

And while doing all this, he manages to drive an underlying pertinent message home. In this incredible, past-paced novel he writes about high-tech surveillance techniques, most already in place as we speak, others that are most likely on the horizon. He writes about our government's asset-forfeiture laws (are you abreast of these laws and how they can be devastating to an innocent party?), stressing his opinion of revoking those laws (I agree), and his criticism of Congress passing laws for the citizens of the USA, exempting members of Congress (again, I agree).  These points of contention are melded with Koontz's clever and horrifying storyline and three main characters in this novel - characters so different from one another, their own terrifying stories revealed. 

I loved this book, for many reasons.  Not to mention it grabbed me from the get-go and held me to the end. I couldn't wait to see how it all evolved in the closing chapters.

Writing at its best, none finer!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

WHAAASUP!

After a few days of feeling a bit under the weather, which to some may mean 'sickly' but that's not what I mean, more like a bit depressed, I suppose.  But today the actual stormy weather brought me out of it ... the rainstorm jolted me back to the living.  Now, don't get me wrong, it wasn't that dark for me, it wasn't that bleak, it's just that sometimes I seem to go into a funk and spend a few days there.  During that time I'm in my thoughts, mostly, and I totally shut down.  Don't want to do anything productive, don't want to see or talk to anyone, although I do force myself to do what HAS to be done, but don't care to stick to my health regime or bother to take care of myself. But I do manage to bathe every night before going to bed.  lol lol lol  Have to do that, no matter how depressed I get.  So maybe depressed isn't really the right word, maybe it's . . . well, whatever . . .

When I'm like that, my thoughts wander all over the place.  They go back to the beginning of time - my early years, my early adult years, my middle adult years and up to the present.  I seem to run the gamut, from teens to seventies.  Much of my thoughts are about the relationships I've had, quite a bunch of them, the people I've known, quite a bunch of them, my family.  How I went wrong, how I went right, what I should have or shouldn't have done. Why there's not a man in my life today. Why I haven't wanted one today.  Then I ask myself, how will I feel tomorrow?

Although I truly feel I'm not destined to have another mate, I wonder about the male friend possibility.  But I know it's next to impossible to have a male 'friend', one to date, an escort of sorts, without the physicality of it creeping in.  I don't see myself in that type of situation.  Sex.  But I do see myself in a man/woman friendship.  Sort of.   lol lol lol  I'm grinning now.  Not believing it even as I write.  lol lol lol  Hey, I'm trying.

You know, I think my answer is ... I'm relegated to having relationships through my characters.  Living vicariously through them, just like you readers do.  So you see, my dear fans and readers, I'm on the same page with you.  Although most of you are with wonderful husbands and boyfriends and like to dream a little while reading my characters, but most of you are happy in your situations, and rightfully so.  And then there are some of you who are older, single or widowed, who still like to dream a little just like me, still like to be taken to a place where you may not be able to go in reality.  So I write for you too. And there are some of you who would love to travel to the places I go to and write about, but are not able to do that, so I write for you too. 

Those of you who want to break out of subjugation and control, to take back your lives and live, to be free from abuse ... well, I write for you too.  "Midnight at the Eiffel" is a prime example of overcoming that misery.  And there are some of you who need to learn how to build your self-esteem and believe in yourselves, to learn how to go for what you want and to get it.  I write for you too.  Prime example in "Midnight in Brussels."  For those of you who are adventurous ... all of my novels are sure to captivate you.

Yes, all my novels have something for each of you, even for you men out there.  You want to learn about women and how they think? Read my novels.  I write for both men and women, for everyone.

So ... from this very moment (May 9, 1012, 7:54 p.m.) I'm on the upswing ... from this moment I'm back ... until the next huge pendulum swing in the other direction.  But I'm not complainin' about the mood swings, because each time I come out of the funk just a little bit stronger with a little more clarity.    

Luv & Hugs ...