Kat Colburn's Blog
February 25, 2018
Discovering my Muse and Her Frying Pan
I've been struggling for awhile now with writing. I'm working on a new book - think a different spin on Hollywood meets Regular Joe, with horses, and cowboy hats.
When I wrote Company Ink I had such a strong sense of who Dani and Dan were, why they belonged together, and the conflict(s) that kept them apart. I would count down the hours until I could get back to my laptop and write. The story just flowed out of me and it was such a pleasure to put it down on metaphorical paper.
The new book couldn't be more different. This time I have a clear sense of place, and of the supporting cast, but the rest hasn't felt right. The hero and heroine's personalities have felt fluid, I can't quite figure them out. And the underlying conflict left me with a nagging feeling that maybe these two might not have such an HEA, even if I forced them to. I found the story interesting, but I doubted if anyone else would.
While writing Company Ink was a pleasure, the new book has felt like a chore. This feeling is compounded by the fact that I broke my leg about a month ago. Due to mobility issues, and the fear of slipping on ice again, my world has been significantly narrowed to a bed and a desk. At first I tried to look on the bright side. Think of all the time you will have to write, I told myself. But despite what I tried to tell myself, the reality of having to spend three months in a cast without doing the things I love, and the amount of time and energy it takes just to shower, has left me feeling depressed and unmotivated.
I've been really struggling to put any words into the new novel. Days when I could get twenty in felt like a victory. I almost abandoned the story several times.
But last night things shifted. I was lying in bed thinking about the story, frustrated and just about ready to give up, when all of a sudden a new plot lens shift into place. I felt it clearly. If I have a muse, she must have smacked me upside the head with an inspirational frying pan. The story was different now. The heroine had a new background, her personality solidified, the conflict changed, things became intriguing. I was excited to write again.
I know this isn't the end of the struggle. There is a lot of work ahead. Do I start over entirely? Do I try to edit what I already have? What about all the scenes I love that no longer make sense?
But I'm inspired again. I'm ready to tackle the hard work. For the first time in a long time I'm excited to write. I'm ready to talk to my muse and her frying pan again.
When I wrote Company Ink I had such a strong sense of who Dani and Dan were, why they belonged together, and the conflict(s) that kept them apart. I would count down the hours until I could get back to my laptop and write. The story just flowed out of me and it was such a pleasure to put it down on metaphorical paper.
The new book couldn't be more different. This time I have a clear sense of place, and of the supporting cast, but the rest hasn't felt right. The hero and heroine's personalities have felt fluid, I can't quite figure them out. And the underlying conflict left me with a nagging feeling that maybe these two might not have such an HEA, even if I forced them to. I found the story interesting, but I doubted if anyone else would.
While writing Company Ink was a pleasure, the new book has felt like a chore. This feeling is compounded by the fact that I broke my leg about a month ago. Due to mobility issues, and the fear of slipping on ice again, my world has been significantly narrowed to a bed and a desk. At first I tried to look on the bright side. Think of all the time you will have to write, I told myself. But despite what I tried to tell myself, the reality of having to spend three months in a cast without doing the things I love, and the amount of time and energy it takes just to shower, has left me feeling depressed and unmotivated.
I've been really struggling to put any words into the new novel. Days when I could get twenty in felt like a victory. I almost abandoned the story several times.
But last night things shifted. I was lying in bed thinking about the story, frustrated and just about ready to give up, when all of a sudden a new plot lens shift into place. I felt it clearly. If I have a muse, she must have smacked me upside the head with an inspirational frying pan. The story was different now. The heroine had a new background, her personality solidified, the conflict changed, things became intriguing. I was excited to write again.
I know this isn't the end of the struggle. There is a lot of work ahead. Do I start over entirely? Do I try to edit what I already have? What about all the scenes I love that no longer make sense?
But I'm inspired again. I'm ready to tackle the hard work. For the first time in a long time I'm excited to write. I'm ready to talk to my muse and her frying pan again.
January 12, 2018
A New Look for Company Ink
Company Ink has a new cover courtesy of the lovely Patricia Schmitt at https://pickymeartist.com.
Pretty, no? And I think much more in keeping with the story.
All the advice on publishing your book says to have a professionally designed cover if you can afford it. But sometimes, you just can't afford it.
Well, I've been scrimping and saving and hoarding pennies to be able to follow said advice. And I am so pleased with the result. I think it is much more in keeping with the funny, sassy story that is Company Ink.
And as an added bonus, the sight of a woman's upper thigh will no longer disturb the delicate sensibilities of Amazon's cover monitors. Lord knows that a dude's bare chest and treasure trail is fine, but let's not allow the same of a lady lest it throw readers into a frenzy of lust... but I digress.
I'll be switching covers over on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Company-Ink-Ka... and everywhere else in the coming days. I hope you all enjoy the new look as much as I do!
Pretty, no? And I think much more in keeping with the story.
All the advice on publishing your book says to have a professionally designed cover if you can afford it. But sometimes, you just can't afford it.
Well, I've been scrimping and saving and hoarding pennies to be able to follow said advice. And I am so pleased with the result. I think it is much more in keeping with the funny, sassy story that is Company Ink.
And as an added bonus, the sight of a woman's upper thigh will no longer disturb the delicate sensibilities of Amazon's cover monitors. Lord knows that a dude's bare chest and treasure trail is fine, but let's not allow the same of a lady lest it throw readers into a frenzy of lust... but I digress.
I'll be switching covers over on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Company-Ink-Ka... and everywhere else in the coming days. I hope you all enjoy the new look as much as I do!
December 12, 2017
So...I Wrote a Book
Company Ink is live and available everywhere fine ebooks are sold. Except iBooks, I just couldn't seem to figure out iBooks.
It's been an emotional experience putting my first book out into the world. I've always made up stories. Sometimes those stories were a way for a shy introverted girl to build a fantasy world around herself, sometimes those stories helped me to sleep when I was older and stress started to enter my world. Often the stories were a way for me to explore an emotion or the way a real life situation could have been, in the most abstract way possible. But the stories were always in my head.
Until now.
I started writing Company Ink on a whim. The first chapter was rage written in one sitting during a stressful, sleepless night. It was heavily edited later on, but the emotions the heroine, Dani, feels about being trapped in a soul-sucking job and no longer recognizing her life or the person in the mirror, her feelings about having to get up again each time life knocks you down, and how hard that is, those stayed.
What started out as a whim turned into a compulsion. A need to tell this story and put a happy ending on a deep-seated emotion that never got one. And in the process I realized how much I love writing.
To be clear, this book is a work of fiction. I'm not Dani, although there is a fair amount of my personality in her. Unfortunately, I've never worked with anyone as interesting as Dan. I've never fallen in love with "my boss’ boss’ boss. Or something like that I have no idea where he falls in the org chart."
But while the story is fictional, the emotions are very real.
When I decided to publish this story, I decided that if one person out there could relate to these feelings, and find some joy in the blossoming romance between two best friends, and the sub-plot of a woman finding her way back to herself, I would call this a success.
That has been the most rewarding part of putting this book out there. The response from readers who have also had those feelings, either now, or once upon a time.
I decided to dedicate this book to anyone who feels like their story has been hijacked by a ghostwriter. In other words, anyone who at one time or another, has felt kicked around by life.
If this is you. I'm sorry. I've been there. I know what it's like. And it is my sincerest hope that you find some joy in this story about two best friends, kicked around by life, who escape into a happily ever after, hand in hand.
It's been an emotional experience putting my first book out into the world. I've always made up stories. Sometimes those stories were a way for a shy introverted girl to build a fantasy world around herself, sometimes those stories helped me to sleep when I was older and stress started to enter my world. Often the stories were a way for me to explore an emotion or the way a real life situation could have been, in the most abstract way possible. But the stories were always in my head.
Until now.
I started writing Company Ink on a whim. The first chapter was rage written in one sitting during a stressful, sleepless night. It was heavily edited later on, but the emotions the heroine, Dani, feels about being trapped in a soul-sucking job and no longer recognizing her life or the person in the mirror, her feelings about having to get up again each time life knocks you down, and how hard that is, those stayed.
What started out as a whim turned into a compulsion. A need to tell this story and put a happy ending on a deep-seated emotion that never got one. And in the process I realized how much I love writing.
To be clear, this book is a work of fiction. I'm not Dani, although there is a fair amount of my personality in her. Unfortunately, I've never worked with anyone as interesting as Dan. I've never fallen in love with "my boss’ boss’ boss. Or something like that I have no idea where he falls in the org chart."
But while the story is fictional, the emotions are very real.
When I decided to publish this story, I decided that if one person out there could relate to these feelings, and find some joy in the blossoming romance between two best friends, and the sub-plot of a woman finding her way back to herself, I would call this a success.
That has been the most rewarding part of putting this book out there. The response from readers who have also had those feelings, either now, or once upon a time.
I decided to dedicate this book to anyone who feels like their story has been hijacked by a ghostwriter. In other words, anyone who at one time or another, has felt kicked around by life.
If this is you. I'm sorry. I've been there. I know what it's like. And it is my sincerest hope that you find some joy in this story about two best friends, kicked around by life, who escape into a happily ever after, hand in hand.
