Books are vampires, some of them – they bite into you and don’t let go. Like a
vampyr’s victim, the reader is changed forever.
It’s even worse when the urge to write takes hold. It is a fever that produces visions,
ones that are so strong that at times they feel like reality. It can be a form of
madness.
An author must be strong, must learn to live in two worlds at once. When the
characters are talking and the scene plays out in the author’s head, as she listens to
those voices and sees what happens to people who are, to her, completely real –
when the real world intervenes, she must learn to silence the other, the unseen
universe.
Of course the most important thing in the world is one’s family – children, husband,
parents. Yet, when the writer is on a roll, riding that dark horse called fantasy as the
movie plays out in her head, when the real world calls, she must rein in the steed
and dismount.
In order to control those two warring, concurrent universes, the writer must have
system – a plan. Writing needs to be in one room, real life in another. (Jane Austen
was so conscious of this that she used to hide what she wrote under a piece of paper,
kept on hand at all times, should anyone enter the room.)
The escape and the visions are scheduled for certain times – in the morning in my
case, for others, at the dead of night. The visions themselves are outlined, or planned
in careful notes, with painstaking research, all to create a map for the wild regions
known as the Right Side of the Brain.
I don’t know why some people have that key to the stables, to ride the dark horse. In
my case, perhaps it came from a childhood without much television, where my sister
and I entertained ourselves with our own made up stories. As we sat in absolute
silence in endless, formal teas, we formed the ability to see within, to watch an
interior movie that no one else could see.
There are many hazards of being a writer – deadlines, editors, publishers, and social
media. For me, however, the greatest pleasure in being an author is also my greatest
hazard – that of harnessing the dark horse.
About the Author: Alison DeLuca is the author of several steampunk and urban fantasy books. She was
born in Arizona and has also lived in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Mexico, Ireland, and Spain.
Currently she wrestles words and laundry in New Jersey.
Connect with Alison DeLuca
See all books by Alison DeLuca on Amazon
About The Crown Phoenix Series: An underground factory, a terrifying laboratory, and an Edwardian hospital…
Miriam has only her guardians' son for company, and she and Simon dislike each other
from the start. But they must find a way to trust each other, or they will end up on the
sinister Night Watchman Express.
Target audience: Twelve and up.
Genres: Steampunk, Edwardian fiction, YA fantasy
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