Dresses vs. Juices?

I'm so totally stoked!!!! The creative juices are SO back.

My next book (Manti Temple) has been hanging out in the wings refusing to come onto stage, and it's been one of those things I've been gently trying to coax out into the open and a bit scared that it just WON'T even show its cute little obnoxious, stubborn face. Drafting really hasn't been much of an issue, since really, I haven't had TIME to draft recently.

But frankly, when I've given drafting a thought, I've tried not to panic, because my story hasn't been there TO draft. It's been nowhere. My rewrites are turned in. I'm not on deadline. The conference is over. I asked my editor when I should expect the next set of editorial deadlines, and she said I could in her words "run free" for a few weeks.

In my terms, that means I should be drafting. So I turned my mind to the next book.

It's not there.

Oh, I've had glimpses of it. Little glimpses that show me it has promise. I've had a clue what the protagonist is like. I even had an idea of what one scene LATE in the book might be like. I had a teeny tiny idea of what my protagonist does job-wise. But for the most part, I was in the dark, and not for lack of trying to muddle my way through my usual ways of figuring things out.

Then today as I'm blow-drying my hair, she decided to show her face, along with much of her story.

And then the book pranced onto center stage!!!

I now have her name plus two nicknames—the one everyone uses (which she hates—and why she hates it—plus the one she prefers). I also have her back story. I have what she does and why. I have the romantic interest AND his name AND his occupation. I have why she's here and where she came from. I have several scenes just waiting to be explained and shown.

I mean, oh my freakin' heck!

This is so dang cool, and I can't wait to write it down!!! (Now I better not lose it all . . .)

The only down side is that this is the week I was suppose to have reserved for my annual attempt at domesticity to make my daughters their Easter dresses. Ahem.

M'kay . . .