Sisters Of Spirit

From the writing desk of Christine Mazurk

I tossed and turned all night, trying to come up with an interesting topic for my post today. I could talk about the Keratin procedure I had done to straighten my super curly hair. BORING. I could share the antics of my two beautiful black cats. YAWN. How about that Spring has sprung, but it's still way too cold for me? NOT.

Instead, I'll focus on three of my dearest friends, my co-authors for Sisters Of Spirit! I hosted a writers' week in early March, and the four of us worked on our latest books. Lynn finished Kate's Courage and sent it off to the editor, then started the second story in the Latimer's Legacy Series. I put the finishing touches on Passion's Spirit, which is now in the first round of edits before going to my agent. Then I plotted the next two Mystical Stories. Annette continued work on a brand new series, her excitement palpable as she plotted the storyline after fleshing out her characters. While Jeanine finished her edits on a YA novel.

The energy swirled as we concentrated our individual stories, punctuated by our laughter and some serious brainstorming. We took breaks to walk the beach, had lunch at the pier, drove around St. Augustine - as it was Jeanine's first visit.

When we went into town, we drove by antique row, and Jeanine pointed out a store. SOS Antiques. Coincidence? Or inspiration for us to write SOS II? We decided to go inside and see if anything spoke to us. We were surrounded by nautical antiques, treasured coins and jewelry. Shipwreck artifacts, books, charts, and more.

As I peered into the main case, a small compass winked at me. A ship's anchor was engraved on the top, and I immediately imagined what might be engraved on the inside. Something along the lines of "Let this bring you home to me." And just like that, I'd found the item my character would find while beach-combing, if we indeed planned to write a second anthology.

The others spotted items that planted a seed for their characters too, giving us something to discuss over dinner. And though we agreed it would be fun to write another anthology, we decided to let the ideas brew while we worked on the many other projects we'd already started.

Lynn has three more books to write for Latimer's. Jeanine is working on YA and adult novels at the same time. I have two more to write in Passion's and two to write in Mystical. And Annette, well she's always developing stories in her head. Between us, we have enough fuel to burn for years!!

Stay tuned. I'll keep you posted as we finish projects.
Until next time - Christine.
Author of Passion's Race and Mystical Connections.

www.christinemazurk.com