Saturday, August 18, 2012

Remedies for Writer's Block! Kate Hill's got 'em!


Some days I feel like I can accomplish just about anything. I have a steady flow of ideas and I can write for hours. Other days it’s hard to complete a single sentence. Since consistency is a main ingredient in finishing a story, those days when I don’t feel like writing are frustrating to say the least.

Everyone has their own way of getting through those low periods and I thought I’d share mine and ask what others do when they’re in the same situation.

If I have a day when it’s actual writer’s block that’s stopping me from working, I’ve found that putting aside my current story and writing something else helps. If I write whatever catches my interest at the moment, it gets my creative juices flowing.

Sometimes the ideas are there, but I have something else on my mind or I’m just feeling down. When that happens I tend to get lazy and would rather hang around than get work done. One thing that almost always gets me out of that state of mind is exercise. For me daily exercise makes me feel energized but also relaxed and helps me focus on work. Sometimes a little extra exercise, even for a short time, is all I need to lift my spirits so I can get back to work.

There are times when the desire to work isn’t the problem, but I’m stuck at a certain plot point. I can write, rewrite and turn over dozens of ideas, but nothing seems to work. In that situation, I try to find something that relaxes me. On thing that almost never fails to clear up any problem I’m having with a scene is to take a warm shower. It might sound crazy, but it seems like as soon as I’m in the shower, ideas start flowing. The biggest problem is trying to write down all the scenes in my head while I’m dripping wet.

What are some of your favorite ways to relax and get focused? Do any specific activities help stimulate your creativity?

About Kate
 Kate Hill is a vegetarian New Englander who loves writing romantic fantasies. When she's not working on her books, Kate enjoys reading, working out, and researching vampires and Viking history.  You can visit her online at http://www.kate-hill.com

Coming in August 2012

Alaskan Flame
by Kate Hill
From Changeling Press

Blurb:
The son of a sex demon and a fallen angel, Oliver struggles to keep his libido under control while on duty as a shadowing angel in the wilderness of Alaska. He needs help and it arrives in the form of a sexy, no-nonsense former demon.

Henrie, a shadowing angel with experience, is the perfect woman to assist a man desperate to regain his self-control. What she discovers is he actually needs to cut loose, especially on the evil forces that are secretly plotting to destroy him.


The following excerpt from ALASKAN FLAME is for readers 18 and over.

Henrie awoke with an uneasy feeling. Her muscles tightened and she sat up quickly.

Oliver stood near the dresser, searching through her open travel bag.

He held up a red lace bra and sniffed it. "Interesting."

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded, springing out of bed, not caring that she might as well have been naked. Her snug T-shirt, the material so thin it was see-through, and tiny boy shorts offered little coverage.

His smoldering gaze swept her. "I didn't think you'd mind if I looked through your things--not after you helped yourself to mine."

If she hadn't been so furious, she'd have been taken aback.

He tossed the bra aside and continued his search. He pulled out specially made handcuffs that were strong enough to restrain most demons.

He smiled. "Are these for business or pleasure?"

"None of your damn business."

He tugged her red and black flogger out of the bag. "Even more interesting."

"Get your claws off my stuff!" Henrie picked up the bra and several other items he'd carelessly discarded and shoved them back into the bag. She grasped the flogger and tried to take it from him, but he refused to let it go. Glaring at him, she said, "Drop it. You have no business looking in my bag."

"But you can search my closet and that's no problem?"

"What makes you think--"

"Give me some credit." He scoffed.

"That's not the point. Give me my flogger."

"Maybe you'd prefer a spanking." His eyes glistened and he pulled the flogger away and wrapped the leather tails around his fist.

"I don't take 'em. I give 'em. And if you don't return my property, I will whip your ass."

His smile broadened. "Promise?"

"If you're in the mood for games, maybe your issues out here aren't so big after all. If Rutendo finds out you bothered him and me because you're just a lonely little boy, he won't be too happy."

"Oh please." He raised his eyes to heaven. "You're actually threatening to tell daddy."

Despite his bravado he tossed the flogger to her.

She caught it, stepped closer and placed the handle under his chin. Curling her lip, she said, "We both know Rutendo isn't your daddy. How about telling me the name of the angel who is?"

The rage in his eyes nearly took her aback, but she stood her ground, waiting for him to answer.

"My parentage is none of your business."

"Since it's the only thing Rutendo told me about you, I'd say it's important to my assignment here. That makes it my business."

"Apparently Rutendo has already told you everything you need to know."

"You act like a child and I'm not the maternal type. If you do one more thing to piss me off, I'm out of here, got it?"

"Go on then. I asked Rutendo for help, not hindrance."

"Hind. . .whether I leave or not I'm going to have to kick your ass."

Maybe it was too many months of being good, but she hadn't felt this kind of passion in. . .

Too long.

By his scent and the look in his eyes, he was just as aroused. Or annoyed. Or an intriguing combination of both.

Watch it. He's half sex demon.

And she'd dealt with many of his kind before. After all, hadn't Rutendo said Oliver could benefit from her brand of discipline?

"Kiss my ass?" he said with feigned innocence.

"Kick your ass!"

Leaning so close that the tip of his nose touched hers, he said, "Either one sounds fun."

That was all Henrie could take. Grasping her flogger, she shifted to her winged form and shoved Oliver so hard in the chest that he stepped back, hit the bed and flopped onto his back.

She raised the flogger and as it fell, he grasped it, the tendrils wrapping around his arm. At that moment he shifted to his winged form and tugged her on top of him. In a blink he pinned her beneath him on the bed. He was lean but rock-hard and his body as hot as the flames of hell.

Both furious and aroused, Henri snapped her sharp teeth at his throat--more a warning than a bite intended to do real harm. He jerked back before her fangs actually reached his flesh.

"Was that a love bite, Henrie?" he purred, his blue eyes blazing.

"Who could love you?"

"Okay, who cares about love. How about a fuck?"

She was tempted to say yes.

"You want it. I can smell it." He dipped his head toward her breasts and inhaled. Then he held her gaze again. "I can see it. Like I said before. You're full of hellfire. We might be shadowing angels, but some things can't ever be driven out of us no matter how hard we try."

"You're right," she said, her voice just above a whisper.

His lashes lowered over his eyes and he dipped his head toward hers. Just before he kissed her, she shifted her weight and managed to push him off her.

She stood, avoiding his grasp.

"This isn't right," she said, her heart pounding. She paced the room, glancing at the half naked hunk sprawled across her bed. He raised himself on his elbows, the motion tightening the muscles in his sleek stomach. His long legs parted and the muscles in his thighs, not to mention his bulging crotch, strained against his black trousers. His long fingers rested over the flogger and his intense blue eyes followed her every motion.

"Just because it isn't right doesn't necessarily make it wrong," he said.

"Oh that's just great. A little demonic philosophy."

"I'm not a demon anymore."

"Neither am I," she said fiercely, because at the moment she felt more demonic than she had in years.

"Denial is an ugly thing, isn't it?"

"From what I found in your closet, I'm guessing you don't abstain much."

He grinned and rose swiftly, pointing at her with a long finger. "So you did search my stuff."

"Okay I apologize. Rutendo didn't tell me much about you so I needed to find out."

"You could have asked."

"And given you the chance to lie?"

"Are you always this much of a skeptic?"

"Show me a shadowing angel who isn't."

He shrugged. "You've got me there. Is that men's cologne you're wearing?"

"Yeah, why?" She liked wearing men's fragrance. It made her feel sexy. Powerful.

His eyes gleamed with lust and he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Come here." His mouth descended on hers.

Henrie had seen the kiss coming. She could have rejected him again. Something told her he wouldn't push the issue. However she wanted him every bit as much as he wanted her.
She parted her lips and her tongue met his thrust for thrust. Closing her eyes, she moaned softly and trailed her long, sharp nails up his back, knowing that she left marks.

Was this sin? No, there were far worse things than a pair of shadowing angels letting off proverbial steam.

He broke the kiss and stepped back just enough to hold the flogger between them. "Are you really any good with this?"

Her hand closed over his around the handle. Their gazes locked and she leaned nearer to speak against his lips. "You have no idea."

Moistening his lips with the tip of his enticing pink tongue, he unzipped his trousers and quickly removed them. He headed for the door and beckoned her with his finger. "This way. Don't forget the cuffs." 

2 comments:

Angelique Armae said...

Music helps me get in the mood to write when I'm having trouble focusing.

Great article, Kate! Loved the excerpt, too!

Kate Hill said...

Hi, Angelique! Thank you! Music is great too. I like listening to it when I'm writing. It really does help set the mood for a story.