Do you smell sugar floss?

People may be wondering why I can't stop talking about tight rope walkers, or silent films, or circuses lately... and by people I mainly mean my husband because he happens to be in my general vicinity most of the time. But I'll tell you why this has been all I can think about lately, whether you wanted to know or not.



See these two? This is the picture I look at right before I start working on the book I'm currently writing. In fact, I have a whole file of pictures I flip through really fast to get me into the right mindset to work on this book. I don't know how my fellow authors immerse themselves in their world (most likely they don't need picutres and they can just get themselves there right away), but for me, one of my favorite parts of writing is becoming obsessed with the story. Anyone who knows me would say I go through phases of obsessions. Weather it's this tart ginger and crazy man.. or... sort of man, sort of Time Lord



A certain pie maker and a girl named Chuck.



Or even this clever and snarky British detective, who will soon replace his deerstalker for a deep and rumbling dragon voice.



But whatever my current obsession is, I'm in it all the way. I make it my desktop, I listen to music that reminds me of it, and I spend time in between calls at work thinking about how awesome it is. So for me, the best way to write something passionately is to turn it into an obsession. For example, aside from my lovely Buster Keaton picture, I'll pull up this picture, which pretty much defines the entire feel of my book without words.



then listen to my playlist entitled "June" which has lots of circus-y Panic! At the Disco type of music.



For me, it's all about the immersion. So Facebook friends and Twitter followers, I apologize for always wanting to talk about stuff that makes you feel vaguely like eating cotton candy and popcorn. It's all part of the process.

Until next time,

Shannen

PS, do you like my new background? I figured, I had the very talented Trent Davis shoot this for my book cover back before it was published, so I might as well put it to some good use!