
Keep your head down. Mind your own business. Don't get attached.
In my latest manuscript, HIS HEART, HER HOME, the heroine Kelsey Albertelli lives by those rules. Now, in Kelsey's case, the rules pertain to personal relationships. And, naturally, because it's a romance, she quickly violates her own rules when she meets the hero.
However, I'm wondering if my imaginary heroine doesn't have a point.
Recently, the romance industry has been rocked by drama. I'm not going to rehash the whole sordid story here. There are more than enough writers' blogs doing that across the web if you're interested in learning more. Besides, as I slog through email after email filling my inbox regarding this issue, I've come to realize the outcome is pretty much out of my hands. The two main parties in this fight are large organizations, and while I'm free to share my opinion with either of them, in the end they're going to make their own decisions.
In other words, the outcome is out of my control. Like with so much of what happens in our industry, I can complain, I can wail and gnash my teeth, I can commiserate, I can try to understand, I can take a side, but the outcome will still ultimately be out of my control.
This doesn't mean I don't care. I care a great deal, and I have some very strong opinions on the subject. But, ultimately sharing those opinions aren't going to anything but clog people's email boxes and contribute to an already heated (and acrimonious) discussion.
So instead, I'm taking a page from my heroine: Keep your head down. And in this case, concentrate on what I can control. My writing.
Because in the end - no matter how this debacle shakes out - the writing is the only thing we can control. In the decade and a half I've been in this industry, I've seen many dramas ebb and flow, rise and fall. Maybe it's a cop-out, but they have a way of resolving themselves. In a year, positions and opinions could very well be forgotten, and the battle of the moment rendered completely moot. What won't go away however, will be our words. Words are forever. Therefore, I choose to use them to create an emotional, powerful story that readers won't be able to put down.
After all, it's the only thing I can control.
HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!




