The Creative Toll

Feb 08, 2013

I keep saying, I’m not usually this emotional at the end of a book. Jon, my husband, assures me I am. He also assures me I’m beautiful, intelligent, & sexy, that I have it all, but yes, I do get exhausted & cranky at the end of every book. Strangely, I forget how much it takes out of me each time. For many of us it is a grueling, amazing, painful thing to have a literary creation. For other writers it seems to be unemotional & much less visceral. I envy those cooler heads at this point in the creative process, but if I were one of them I’d be a different person & a very different writer. Could I have created Anita Blake, Merry Gentry, & all the other characters if I’d been less invested in my work? Would all my readers feel as close to my imaginary friends, if I didn’t bleed a little over every book? Somehow I think if the cost were less for me, it would mean less to all of you.

16 thoughts on “The Creative Toll”

  1. The one thing that keeps me reading (and rereading) your tales is the fact that your characters are alive. There have been times when Anita and her ethics make me so mad that I want to jump inside the book and slap her. Then I forgive her… I know she is who she is, and if she acted in any other way, I wouldn’t like her and respect her as much as I do.

    Merry… well, Merry Gentry is perfect; a balanced combination of light and darkness capable of reflecting the beautiful and the ugly, often at the same time.

    I doubt these two ladies, their men, their friends… could have been created by someone who didn’t ‘feel’ them. Creation hurts and it gives pleasure 😉

  2. I don’t think that they’d be near as engaging as they are now if you weren’t as invested in them as you are! Sometimes you can just feel it when you’re reading a book that the author really doesn’t care about the characters or even the story even! I’d say more, but I can’t see what I’m typing atm without highlighting everything LOL!

  3. Blood, sweat and tears always come when people are devoted and dedicated to their art, passion or craft. Thank you for all of yours as you work on your books to give us the escape and enjoyment of your fantasy world. Both book series are absolutely wonderful!

  5. While I love love love Anita and the continuing saga I need additional Merry input. When will you start work on the next Merry tale?

  6. I love your books and know your invested in you’re characters b/c we are too. I have a hard time of being patient when someone tells me its out this well…then I find out its this summer.

    You are a very good and creative writer, however you do need some ME time as well.

    Thanks for keeping the series going..

  7. I believe the emotional connection you make to the books and characters is why these books are such fantastic reads.

  10. The emotion, tears, heart and soul you put into each and every book is well worth it! Your characters and stories become real to the reader and er’re carried away into your world of fantasy. Thank you!

    May I now address Merry and her story? Please come back to that series. There are so many unanswered questions. What of her pregnancy and children? How does she continue balancing all the men in her life? Now that there’s a new sithen’s in LA, will she be queen of that? And what of the Gray Detective Agency? So many unanswered questions. I have read the Merry Gentry series three times and the Anita Blake series twice. Needless to say, I’m encamped with your writing and can’t wait for more. Again, thank you for your dedication to us fans!

  11. We’ve watched our favorite characters mature and change over many novels in both LKH series now, thanks to the parts of herself LKH included in those pages. A vampire executioner learned that a black-and-white view of the world leaves out so many other beautiful colors. The fae princess knew who she was, but not who she was going to be, and that evolution was spiritual as well as emotional. It has been such a blessing to have heroines that were not in cookie-cutter books with predictable endings. LKH bled to write them, and I bleed a few drops every time I revisit my friends between their pages, as they triumph or fail in their trials.

  13. Continue doing what ever you’re doing because it’s definitly working. I love your series and I have been for years. Thank you!

  14. I love both of the series, but I absolutely LOVE the Anita ones. My husband and I both read them, and we just can’t wait for new ones to come out! We have them all. Thank you for what you do, they are all amazing!

  15. I adore the Merry series and can’t wait for the next one to come out but the pace is grueling. I’m kinda hoping she gives birth in the next book, just to pick up the pace again and offer us a look at the future of Faerie. After all, picking up a week into the story’s timeline after waiting nearly four years from the last book, I think it might be worse than water boarding. Course, on the plus side, no matter what the contents of the book, the characters will probably retain the magic that captured our attentions and hearts in the first place. It’s hard to imagine a world where Merry doesn’t have her Darkness and Killing Frost. 🙂

  16. There is nothing wrong with big, fat Anita books. The bigger the better I say!

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