Happy Birthday Lissa!

And to celebrate a bunch of us are having a party on her blog. Lots of great books and excerpts to devour. And the best part is…you can win door prizes. Yeehaw! So come hang out with me and birthday girl. We’ll be parting through Monday afternoon.

What is it about my obsession with cowboys? I’ve always loved them. Ever since I became a fan of romance novels (at the tender age of twelve), I’ve been in love with one cowboy or another. Perhaps it was the fact I grew up in Nevada, a state that embraces its Wild West past. There’s nothing quite like seeing a REAL herd of wild horses or walking the streets of Virginia City while learning about the silver rush of the Comstock Lode.

Whatever the reason, I can’t get enough of them; men who ride the range, who are kind to animals, polite to women, and who are the ultimate gentleman. Of course, there are bad boys of the range as well, men who aren’t repentant in the least for ravishing you under the stars…

I think it’s the combination of knowing cowboys can be unpredictable coupled with the love they have for their animals. They’ve got guns, and they’re not afraid to use ‘em. They’re wild and untamed, and can do amazing things on the back of a horse (SAVAGE THUNDER by Johanna Lindsey, anyone??). But they’re also carefree, they don’t live by the rules of society, and they symbolize (for me) shucking convention to ride the range with them.

I also believe my love for cowboys stems from my own love of animals and nature. Moreso than stuffy dukes and viscounts, cowboys seem to be more in tune with nature and the great outdoors. In a way, they are stewards of the land, and they’ll defend their woman until their last breath, defending her honor with their own brand of justice.

I’m saddened at the lack of Western historicals there are out there. It seems historical England reigns supreme. I know a handful of authors who are trying to bring them “back” and make cowboys popular again.

I want to be one of them.

YEEHAW!!

It’s early morning and I’m sitting at the coffee shop writing this blog post for Selena. I have an hour to work relatively undistracted before I need to leave and head home. This is a normal morning routine for me. I get up, shower, take my daughter to school, and come here to Caribou Coffee. I sit in the corner, away from the window because it’s just too damn cold right there.

You must wonder why I come here and why I just don’t go back home and write. The answer is simple. Focus. Right frame of mind. That’s what the coffee shop first thing in the morning is for me. The shop is empty, no one is here save for the stream of people walking in to get their own jolt of caffeine.

I have my netbook out, open, and ready to go. And the netbook, it goes everywhere with me. I can sit in the car and write while I wait for my daughter’s school to let out. I can write at the coffee shop, Panera, a friend’s house, in my own bathroom if I just need to get away and there’s no way to leave the house. But back to the routine… That’s what this is, too. A routine. I don’t do it every morning, but I do try for at least 3 days a week. I typically order a regular coffee or hot tea and an oatmeal. It’s soooooo very good.

After I get breakfast, I sit and start working. Usually by this time, I’ve got a good 45-50 minutes that I can write, but, I make the most of it. The music on the mp3 player drowns out any other noises and I rarely look up from the screen. If I’m really into the scene, I can usually make a pretty good dent in my daily word count.

This is how I have started 2010. I needed a routine, something to focus me, to get me and keep me going and this is what I have chosen to do. I don’t have a designated home office, so this little corner in the coffee shop is used as such. It’s mindset. I have found that when I follow this routine, I get a lot more done both in writing and in my homes life with housework, kids, etc…

And yes, this habit is expensive, but as a way to combat this, I budget every month for it. I put a certain amount on a Caribou card and when it’s empty, well, let’s hope it’s near payday. I know I can’t deduct it from taxes, but, if it helps me start my day and put me in the frame of mind I need to be in, then, it’s worth it.

We all have a routine we need to follow, a regimen that centers us, focus’ us on what we need to do. Some people need to shower and shave and dress the part. Some people need just get out of bed and grab the laptop from the floor beside the bed. Some need an assistant, a time clock, an office. We all have something different we need to do in order to get us where we need or want to be.

It’s not the same as having a nine to five job, but some need and do treat it like one. I don’t. I get up, do what I need to do, write what I need to write. And I love writing. I love this job, this choice I made but I have to be serious about it if I want to make it. So, I go to the coffee shop in the morning a few days a week to draw myself into the writer mind, though to be honest, my mind is always working, always thinking, always wondering about the story. But, it’s all in how I use my time that will get me where I want to go as an author.

It’s easy to squander money and time. We find ourselves buying more books than we write and spending more time on social media writing 140 characters than we do on our 40K novellas.

It takes discipline and structure to stick to or even come up with a routine, a ritual, a regimen. It’s different than having a to-do list, it’s having goals and accomplishing them. Sometimes the only way to accomplish our goals is to have the routine. Like me and my coffee shop and speaking of which, I should get back to my writing before I have to leave.

What is yours?

Thanks Selena for having me!

~lissa

According to Are You Normal About Sex, Love, and Relationships? a person burns 200 calories during 30 minutes of active (SB: How about vigurous?) sex.