Monday, April 09, 2007

Wrestling with earls


Kate Walker wrestled her Spaniard into submission last week, attached him to an email and sent him off to her editor. Lucky her. She deserves the break. She's worked very hard.

I'm glad she got Raul out of her hair, though judging from his picture here, he wouldn't have been too hard to have around.


I, on the other hand, am currently wrestling with an earl.

Not even Flynn. That would be at least interesting. But it isn't Flynn I'm wrestling with. I'm wrestling with his father.

Think about it. What does his father have to be for Flynn to be an earl?

That's right. He has to be dead. He is dead. He is also driving me nuts. He won't stop cropping up and annoying his son. Even from the grave he's causing no end of trouble.

It's not like Flynn doesn't have enough on his plate to deal with. He's got a son he didn't know about. He's got a woman he left six years ago who can't imagine he isn't going to do it again and so is highly unlikely to let him matter in her life. He's got a crumbling castle, a matchmaking mother, a loose cannon brother. And more trouble than all of them is his father, the dead earl!

Why? I ask myself. It's not like he can do anything now, is it? No, he can't. This is not a para-normal. The dead earl is staying dead, thank you very much.

But Flynn keeps thinking about him. I keep thinking about him. It's because he's had such an effect on his son's life. Not for the good, I fear.

And now there's Liam. And what sort of effect is he going to have on Liam? Flynn, that is, not the dead earl. He's worrying about being like his father, I think. He keeps stalling, worrying instead of getting where he needs to go (where I need him to go -- Ireland -- by the end of the week, and England to my editor by the end of the month!).

So I've promised him that I will deal with the earl (the old earl. The dead earl, as I keep reminding Flynn). He says good, I can take care of it. And then he starts thinking again. And so do I -- and before you know it, the damned dead earl is back.

Sometimes writing is so weird.

And worse, I have now finished Twyla Tharp's book The Creative Habit, and I regret to inform you that she does not specifically address wrestling with earls.

Otherwise it's a fabulous book. My copy arrived today. I'm going to re-read from the beginning, pen in hand this time.

6 Comments:

Blogger Michelle Styles said...

Based on your assessment, I have ordered my copy of the Creative Habit.

Is it possible that you are letting Flynn think too much? maybe he just needs to be. Can't he show that he is different? Take postive action?

10 April, 2007  
Blogger Anne McAllister said...

Michelle,
There is no doubt Flynn is thinking too much. I think a lobotomy might be in order!

He's off to deal with his son now and I've wrestled the dead earl into submission and am back with Sara. Disaster has been averted for another day.

Hope you enjoy The Creative Habit. I think it's a brilliant book (as I've said ad nauseum).

10 April, 2007  
Blogger Barbara Bretton said...

Fate? Serendipity? I suppose it doesn't matter. What =does= matter is that I found your blog and your review of Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit exactly when I needed it most. It arrived yesterday and I'm expecting great things.

It's been a long time. So how's by you?

Greetings from a long-lost writer friend in NJ

10 April, 2007  
Blogger Anne McAllister said...

Hey, Barbara,

How nice to hear from you. I hope it's serendipity that you bought a copy of The Creative Habit. I think it's a wonderful book (obviously). I hope you find it as helpful as I have.

All's well here, thanks. And you? Drop me a note via my website and we'll continue this conversation via email.

cheers,
Anne

10 April, 2007  
Blogger Liz Fielding said...

Anne, my book is lost in the post! Unbelievable...

Well, sadly, no. But, honestly! (I really needed that exclamation mark.)

11 April, 2007  
Blogger Anne McAllister said...

Liz,

Oh, no!!!!!!!! (exclamations required)

How could they lose it? This is Royal Mail, right? The service that can get anything anywhere in the British Isles in a day? Not the US Postal Service which has to crisscross Wyoming to get anything anywhere, it seems.

Oh dear. Tell me what part you particularly need and I'll read it out loud to you.

Did you find the battery charger for the camera? Still waiting for a pic of the box you're writing out of.

Michelle got her book. Maybe she'd read bits out to you.

11 April, 2007  

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