Taking a creative detour

After several years of writing paranormal, I decided to take a break and try my hand at something different. I wrote a small town contemporary romance. It turned out to be a book I’m really proud of, and I enjoyed writing it. But when I tried to write what was supposed to be the second book, I realized this was a creative detour, not a new direction. It just wasn’t working, and it didn’t take me long to figure out that I wanted to go back to speculative fiction. I may never write another contemporary and if I do it would likely be years from now, so ultimately I decided to self-publish this book.

Even if I never do it again, I’m glad I wrote this contemporary. It gave me a chance to step outside my comfort zone and challenge myself. And after struggling with a serious case of burn-out, it made me feel better about writing in general than I have in a long time, just knowing that I can do something so different and finish it.

If you’re a writer struggling with burn-out or even just the usual ups and downs of writing and publishing, I highly recommend taking a creative detour. Challenging yourself can feel really good, it can be fun, and it’s a great way to take your writing to new places. Best of all, you might find yourself coming out of that detour excited to write again.

Here’s the cover and description of my own detour, Good Time Bad Boy.

Wade Sheppard was the king of country for nearly ten years. Now he can’t get Nashville on the phone, much less another record deal. When yet another drunken night onstage gets him fired from a casino gig, Wade is pulled off the road by his manager and sent home. Being back in the small town where he was born and raised, his every screw-up fodder for gossip, isn’t helping any. His family knows him too well, and the pretty, sharp-tongued waitress who catches his eye doesn’t want to know him at all.

Daisy McNeil has more baggage than most her age but she’s finally pulling her life together. College classes will be her ticket out of poverty and instability. She doesn’t mind waiting tables for the time being, but she could do without the rowdy rednecks who sometimes get handsy. When one of them crosses the line, she snaps and gives him and his stupid ten gallon hat the telling off he deserves, but causing a scene gets her fired.

Wade didn’t mean to cost Daisy her job. Chastened, he decides he doesn’t want his train wreck of a life to crash into anybody else. He offers the bar owner a summer of free shows if Daisy can have her job back. Now they’re spending nights together trading barbs and fighting a growing attraction. With a sexy smile and a powerful voice that can make any song his, Wade’s determined to show Daisy that he’s more than just a good time bad boy.

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