Monday, December 06, 2004

Playing it Safe?

My three-year old turned four yesterday, and he said (as I placed his Spiderman icecream cake in front of him) "Mom, you're STUPENDOUS!"
Who knows where he learned that word--maybe it stems from the fact that he and his siblings have watched every episode of SpongeBob Squarepants known to Man...but it was really a *cute* moment.
It's pouring rain outside--has been for two days now. Our lawn is this supercharged deep-sea green color--not something you fnd much in December! All the snow melted a few days ago and now it's warm enough for capris--I don't get this weather. I definitely want to stay in and write as opposed to going out and running errands.
Hubby left for New York yesterday so I was an insomniac last night, but I got a bug and decided to organize my walk-in closet--I started at 9 and finished at 2am. Whew! I could have been writing, but hey, everything is hung and folded and coordinated by season. I am giving away 75% of all my old dresses (who really wears dresses anyway nowadays?) and I am a very nostalgic and sentimental person (Oh, I can't toss this dress, I had my first kiss with so-and-so in it, etc..) so it was an emotional night for me. The other 25% I couldn't bear to part with. I also got rid of roughly half my shoes. Now I can actually walk into my walk-in closet! :-)

I have a confession to make--I think I chose closet-cleaning over writing for a reason: this story I'm working on has taken some turns that have confused me. I usually write safe simple YA and children's fare, and I decided to try my hand at a light romance for a change. Well, it's turning into this heavy adult drama on me, and I'm surprising myself. My characters are adults, and they're living in the Promiscuous 1700's, and they're wanting to act accordingly.
My problem is--I don't know how well a story like this (written by me) would be received by my peers. And family. Everyone I know, friends, family, etc. are very conservative and religious, and frankly, this story would shock (and offend) them. So, I'm having second thoughts. I toyed with the idea of a pen name, but I decided that if I'm embarrassed for my own husband to read this, it would never see the light of day. (heh heh, I just remembered my mother reads this blog--sorry Mom!) I also just asked myself the "CTR question" (don't ask) and that settled it for me.
So I think I will quit writing this story for now. Maybe it's a phase--I am dissatisfied with writing "safe fiction" because it's all I've ever done. But that's not a bad thing. Who knows, someday when I'm 60 and don't give a rat's a** what people think of me I'll pick it out of the drawer and dust it off.
For now, I'm playing it safe...

1 comment:

Michelle Miles said...

Lara, I agree with what everyone else said. And besides, I think I want to read this book. Finish it! Finish it! :-)