The first full moon of 2020 was today…or rather yesterday, and oh boy, was it glorious.

There was also a lunar eclipse, but unfortunately, it wasn’t visible from where I am on the east coast. No biggie because even if you couldn’t see it, you could certainly feel it if you’re in tune with that sort of energy.

I am still reeling from it! It’s 12:30am, and I am wide awake and worried I won’t get to bed for a while!

I hadn’t planned on blogging tonight because I edited and uploaded chapter three of BROKEN SHUTTERS during my lunch hour today. However, my mind was racing with so many thoughts this evening that I needed to get some of this out and release this energy in a positive way to all of my writer friends and whoever else may be reading this.

I’m so happy you’re here!

First, I want to thank all of my followers, no matter if you’ve only recently joined me or if you’ve been with me since writer pre-K, better known to me as pre-publishing days when I was still in the trenches and filling them in with knowledge and experience. Even though I’ve published eight novels in the past six years, I still consider myself a newbie at this, but I’m growing and expanding every single day!

Over time, I’ve come to realize if you’re not growing, you’re not only petrifying, you’re shrinking.

Even though I’ve lost over 60 lbs this year and shrunken physically, I’ve grown so much inside that most of the time, I feel like I’m going to burst out of my body!

What this has done is given me bigger and bigger wings. Feathers just keep sprouting every day with new ideas and goals that I feel can’t be accomplished fast enough. I’m excited and energetic and bursting at the seams with creativity, and best of all, I’m not afraid of anything anymore. I’m not afraid of the success I know the universe has in store for me this year. I no longer fear the opinions and judgment of others who may disagree with what I create. It just doesn’t matter. I’ve finally caught that wave of energy and am riding it with the flow instead of constantly paddling against it.

All of this is the reason I decided to write BROKEN SHUTTERS right here on my website for all to see. I want to share it as it’s written, and whether one person reads it or one million, it doesn’t matter. Whether some think it’s trash or some think it’s brilliant doesn’t matter. What matters is it’s mine. It’s coming from my heart, and my imagination and sharing make me happy. Writing makes me happy. Being a writer makes me happy. Remembering why I started writing in the first place makes me happy.

You don’t need to be caught up in what everyone else is doing.

Follow your heart. I’ve always been the kind of person who gets caught up in their head. My brain was always trying to figure this out or understand why something works the way it works or doesn’t work until I drove myself to exhaustion and ended up with my ideas in a million pieces. Now, everything comes from my heart when I write, which is why when my heart said to write this novel on my website and share it, that’s what I did. Right or wrong doesn’t matter. There is no right or wrong when something comes from absolute passion and love for what you’re doing.

Stop thinking so much, and pay attention to how you feel when you’re writing. If it feels forced, then stop. Something you love should be easy when you do it. Think about how you feel when you sit down to write. Are you excited and filled with the joy of purpose and the passion to create something wonderful, or does it feel like a chore that makes you feel anxious and negative? My belief is if you’re feeling negative, then stop and close your eyes and let your imagination run free. Think about things that make you feel good. Think of things that make you smile or fill you with that joy of fulfillment, and then…try again.

Write what your heart and soul are telling you to write, not what the best-seller list tells you to.

I write historical fiction for the most part because that’s what my heart sings to me when I think about telling a story. I’m fascinated by so many aspects of living in a different time that when I try to write in other genres, it feels forced. I’m done swimming upstream. Riding that wave or that river and going with my flow allows me the freedom to imagine and envision so much more, and before I know it, my fingers are flying over the keyboard, and I’m actually smiling as I write, and I don’t even realize it.

My dream, like so many other writers, is to be traditionally published and get that best-seller status, but I can’t get there by lying to myself, and I’m certainly not going to fool an agent who can tell the difference between a manuscript that was forced and one that was created with the love of storytelling.

Look, I’m not telling anyone out there what to do. What I’m saying is just take inventory once in a while. Stop and close your eyes and see your story playing out in your mind as if it were a movie on the big screen. Can you see it, or more importantly, can you feel it? Is it making you swoon with love for the story and the characters? Is there passion in the way you attack that keyboard as if you’re going to burst if you don’t get that last word written?

My hope for you is that you find that love for your work and stop doubting yourself. If it’s a struggle to write, then you’re not telling the story you should be telling. It’s not that you shouldn’t be a writer. You wouldn’t be writing at all if that were the case. Just take a step back and listen to your heart and get out of your head. That’s all I’m saying.

Well, I suppose I’ll try to get some sleep, but this week it has been a struggle because BROKEN SHUTTERS has been keeping me awake with these characters who’ve stolen my heart and the plot, which is already beginning to twist in my imagination. Oh, the glory! Oh, the pain of having to work a day job and only having so many hours a day to devote to my passion!

I’m sending you all this moon power and all the good vibes I can muster tonight. Get out of your head and into your heart, and I promise you, you’ll write as if your life depends upon it…because if writing truly is your passion and your life’s meaning, then it truly does depend on it. Not for money or fame and fortune but for the love and happiness you feel inside when you do it.

Good night and peace out.

I love you!

Peggy