Terri Brisbin Icon

I’ve been ‘head-down’ finishing my next Brava romance and am only now looking at the calendar. MISTRESS OF THE STORM is an intense, emotional story that left me sobbing in the middle of the night as I wrote a man and a woman who are more than just that and are integral to each other’s very survival.

Interestingly, my usual habit of listening to Celtic music to get the creativity (and story) flowing. Instead a song I heard on a recent episode of Stargate Universe – a haunting melody and emotional words of Mumford&Sons’ AFTER THE STORM — brought me to the heart of the story again and again. I think it’s just a coincidence that the name of it is linked to the name of my STORM trilogy, but who knows how things work in the creative cosmos, right?

When I went on my deadline binge of writing, it was in the middle of the political season and every tv commercial was for this candidate or that one. When I traveled to South Carolina, I couldn’t decide if it was worse having to put up with all those for people I didn’t know, or if being home and seeing them for candidates I did know was worse. So, I went on my writing binge, didn’t even know who’d been elected or not, and when I finished my book and raised my head to look around. . . .

IT’S CHRISTMAS!

Well, not exactly and not quite yet, but by what I’m seeing on tv now, the season is upon us! Every other ad is for this store or that one, the Black Friday sales next week (my new favorite one – the Target one where the woman gets in shape for Black Friday is hysterical!) and for all the newest and shiniest holiday gifts. And it won’t get better until December 27th (the day after the ‘day after Christmas’ sales finish).  Then we can all breathe a sigh of relief…

But for now, after one storm and before the next, I wanted to take a moment and celebrate the holiday that gets lost in the shuffle, between political campaign and the Christmas holiday — Thanksgiving.  So, before time and activity swirl around me dragging me into the storm, let me mention a couple of things that I am thankful for this year:

1.  My writing colleagues–I belong to a number of author loops and groups and chapters and have such respect and admiration for the talent of the wonderful writers I know. They are an inspiration to me every day in so many ways.

2. My editors and agent — I appreciate working with professionals whose main intention is to make me look good and make my words better and stronger.

3. My readers–and not just for the obvious reasons (but thanks for buying and reading my stories, too!) — for contacting me and for following me and befriending me (on FB) and for emailing me those lovely questions and comments about my work. . . like the one that arrived in the dark of the night when I thought I had lost the story I was working on.  It made me smile and made me remember why I like these stories and gave me the push to find the story again.

4. My characters — who come to me and trust me with their lives, their loves and their stories — because that’s the way things work for me…..

How about you? It’s the classic Thanksgiving time question — what are you thankful for this year? Share yours with me and I’ll pick two and send out some books….and a giftie….

Terri is reading the pile (huge!) of romances she’s been storing until she finished the ^%*$%@# book…and now she has! So, in between thawing and cooking the biggest turkey she can find and cooking it, she’ll be reading. . . and  reading and reading. But she secretly cannot wait for Christmas…. She’ll be participating in several Christmas/Holiday online events so visit her website in December for more info!