Title: Masks of Emotion Author: Claire Thompson Artist: Jinger Heaston ISBN: 978-1-60168-090-7 Genre: M/M Erotica Publisher: Aspen Mountain Press Publication Date: 2/29/2008 Sexual Content: M/M Erotica

Alex Williams never got over the almost-fling he’d had one summer in Sri Lanka with the sexy Brit Julian Goddard. The story opens six years later, and both men have been through a lot in between, with Alex putting the dream of Julian firmly behind him. Julian has come to embrace who and what he is, but he’s never been able to find the love he almost had with Alex. A chance meeting, hidden behind masks at a costume party, reignites a passion never consummated. Against a backdrop of scorching erotic m/m love, this story delves into the layers of denial and self-deception we develop to protect ourselves from pain, and strips them away, one by one.

Click here to read an excerpt.

We have the greatest job in the world, writing and reading stories and helping make them better.  How cool is that?

But, there are days when the words are difficult to put to the page.  I posit that perhaps we spend too much time working on writing and not enough time refilling our creative well.  To that end I propose you consider the following:

1. Know when your peak writing time is and write then.  You won’t be fighting yourself.

2. Set a timer, for five minutes less than the time you are allotting to write.  Timers help us create natural arcs in our story structure be it a paragraph, a page, or a chapter.  When time expires, you need to wrap up your work, even if you will be getting back to it later in the day.  Five minutes or five hour long timings…using this technique will help you find conflict, action, and resolution within the building blocks of your story.

3. Make a date with yourself to do something away from your desk, away from your workplace.  You might go to a garage sale, a second-hand shop, a museum, the park.  Renew yourself by changing your environment.

4. Hone your craft.  Attend classes, lectures, critique groups, read craft books, find the things that can help you be a better writer.

5. Remember writing is also a job.  Jobs have beginnings and ends every day. Jobs have responsibilities that need to be met.  You have to show up.  Writers need to show up at the page, put in their time  and then  need to end the day.  But like a job, you have to make writing a priority, just like you do when you go to work.  If you’re serious about writing, “calling in” is not an option for the days you don’t “feel like it.”

That’s it.  Pretty simple.  Don’t burn out, recharge and make use of the time you have.