...a good tail wind blowing... by Liz Flaherty #RomanceGems

"You never will get where you're going

If you never get up on your feet

Come on, there's a good tail wind blowing"

 from "Put One Foot in Front of the Other," by Jules Bass and Maury Laws.

What's next? It was January's topic here on Romance Gems, and a very fitting one it was, too. I think I speak for all 20-some of us--and gesture for us as well--by throwing my hands up and saying, "What's next?" I'd include a few swear words in there, too. Maybe some tears. I might growl instead of speak. I might open a bottle of wine. I might finish it off.

The year has had rough beginnings for many of us. Loss, illness, surgery. Some of us feel we've been betrayed by a professional association and its membership. I don't know it for a fact and it's stuff we mostly keep to ourselves, but probably some of our private lives aren't what we wish they were. Heartache is company we keep whether we want to or not. Some of us can't bear the political climate.

But we're writers. We deal with emotion every single day. If not our own, then that of the people on our pages. We are pleased when we (or our people) make readers laugh or cry because we've done it to ourselves first. And we've done it because we've mined the awful stuff for what we can use. It's how we get through the day. How we put one foot in front of the other. (Maybe not all of us. I remember feeling terrible because grief fed my muse, but it was the truth. I think it silences it for others.)

I'm still in an anesthesia-fed fog, which I've been bemoaning for the nine days since I had disc surgery that left my fingers miraculously un-numb. I'm not sure how long I can blame the anesthesia, so I'm trying to work my way out of it, and that's what's next for me. Being healthy and thinking about spring and flowers and moving forward on my work-in-progress.

Come to think of it, that's a "what's next" I wish for everyone--at least all Romance Gems and other writer friends. I end my weekly newspaper column the same way every time, with "Have a good week. Be nice to somebody."

Make it happen. We're writers, after all.

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Almost forgot, today's the last day to enter this month's Rafflecopter. The prizes are great, as usual, and we are so grateful to you for spending time with us.
Full information on the Rafflecopter drawing can be found on our Monthly Giveaway page. You can also find the the entry form HERE.

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Coming soon, and available for pre-order now...

Oops, almost forgot something else! Caroline Clemmons is the winner of the goody bag from my post of a few weeks ago! Congratulations, Caroline, and thanks for commenting!