Chloe Stowe's Blog: The Words and Madness of Chloe Stowe, page 7

Where Gremlins Fear to Meet

I envy writers who can thrive in groups. Authors who can happily share their dailies with other storytellers of the same ilk. Yes, I’m entirely jealous of the whole constructive criticism game. While intellectually I get it, Anxiety Gremlin inside my brain is violently opposed to any such exchange. Oh, I can force myself to do it, but I come out the other side so scarred and belittled I seriously consider never writing again. I despise many aspects of myself, but none so much as this cowardice borne of gremlins. Until tomorrow… Chloe #anxiety #envy #constructivecriticism

A Dwindling Day

Faith is a currency writers trade in daily. At least, un-agented ones do. Un-contracted ones. Like me. My Cozy Mystery is being written entirely on faith. That’s fine. I’ve done it before. I’ll no doubt do it again, but... It does get old, and I do get tired. Faith may never crash, but it does begin to dwindle. Today is a dwindling day. Pardon, if I appear smaller. Until tomorrow… Chloe #faith #currency

The Alien Landscape

I’d like to request a guidepost. Nothing fancy or even wordy. Just an arrow with a thumbs-up attached would be helpful. Writers often work in an alien landscape where true norths don’t exist and suns don’t always rise. There’s no way to know if you’re traveling in the right direction. So, please, somebody plop a guidepost down nearby. A little path-confirmation would be gold right about now. Until tomorrow… Chloe #direction #reporting #cozymystery #guidepost

Exhaustion, Meet Accomplishment

Exhausted. Accomplished. I am rarely both at the same time, but let it be noted that on the morning of September 2, 2018, Chloe Stowe existed happily in the fog of both. I was up until 2:30am live-tweeting the Navy football game for the Maryland Sports Blog. I had never done such a thing before. I’d worried over it all day long. But I did it. May I say, Exhaustion and Accomplishment taste wonderful on a mad girl’s tongue. Until tomorrow… Chloe #exhaustion #accomplishment #livetweet #Navy

Creak

The day bodes sketchy when you wake up with wire hangers instead of bones in your back. Rusty wire hangers. Crooked, rusty wire hangers. Why? Crazy does stupid things to a body. Oh, yeah. Looking forward to today’s creak. Until tomorrow… Chloe #crazy #creak

Practice & the Artist

Work matters. When you’re a writer, the actual practice of placing words side by side to make sensical, readable thoughts is vital to the art. Practice. Art. These two words do not repel each other. You do not have to be putting pen to paper on a novel, poem or play to be working on your dream. Embrace the opportunities that come your way. Dazzle in them. Absolutely amaze. Bottom line: Practice makes the artist. Work makes the writer. Until tomorrow… Chloe #practice #art #work #bottomline

The Focus Funnel

I’m in need of a funnel. A focus funnel, to be exact. Something into which I can dump all my creative notions, story seeds and character leads. Then, after a bit of dramatic swirling and adroit shimmying, all my ‘talent’ streams out into one single project. No leaks. No runovers. No waste. So, should I check Lowe’s or head straight to eBay? Until tomorrow… Chloe #focus #funnel #search #Lowes #eBay

The Avoidance of Cute

Is it wrong to avoid cute? I know a lot of Cozies barter on the darling, but that is as foreign to me as fresh-out-of-the-box sanity. Sure, I may end up on the sane end of the dial, but I would never market myself as such. So, while my first Cozy might have its brief “Aw, shucks” moments, they exist solely as necessary gasps from the grit. I’m doomed, aren’t I? Hello, Cozy Failure 101. I wonder, is it too late to write in a kitten? Until tomorrow… Chloe #cute #failure #doomed #grit

Weaponizing Facts

When writing a Cozy Mystery, facts are important. Duh. But equally crucial is the method in which the facts are given. The facts, once given, can’t be muddled. They can’t be wishy-washy, squishy or in any manner wet noodle-like. Hard, concise, clear-cut and oftentimes damning, facts can be a Cozy author’s deadliest weapon. Who knew? (Not me. Dumb as a doornail, was I… and that’s a fact.) Until tomorrow… Chloe #facts #weapon #method

Here

Nearing the end of August and I’m overcome with professional “should have’s.” Instead of listing them here in some weird self-flagellation ritual, however, from this point on I am denying them completely. They do not and have never existed. So there. I am not behind. I am just simply and happily here. Bottom line: Denial is a weapon. Wield it when you must. Until tomorrow… Chloe #bottomline #here #ritual #denial