The wonderful Julie Leto slays a few demons this week!




Demons, huh? Maybe we're fascinated by the creatures because we know they truly exist. And we love for them to be tangible monsters because then characters like Julie Kenner's Kate can come in and slay them for us and we don't have to be the wiser. Reality, however, isn't like fiction, is it? We have to slay our own demons and most of us have so many that if we stopped to count them, we'd never fight again. What demon am I slaying this week? Today? This minute? The deadline demon. You'd think after 20+ books, I'd get this time management thing down. See, the thing is, one day I might write 10 pages in two hours. The next day, 10 pages in ten hours. The next two pages in ten hours. There's no way to gauge. Discipline isn't always the missing factor, either. I can sit at the computer and write and delete and write and delete and stare and play on email and write and drive myself batty because the bottom line is...the muse isn't cooperating. Bitch. I'd slay her too if I thought the great Muse boss would issue me a new one. Trouble is, she's a pretty great gal when she's cooperating. And when she's cooperating, I can plan how long it'll take me to finish a book and then I can meet my deadline. But, vile creature that she is, she doesn't always cooperate.

There are other demons in my life, of course. Do I let my daughter play in the front yard? I mean, with all the crap going on in Florida right now, particularly, this doesn't seem like a good idea. How much fear do I inject in her? How much of her childhood am I willing to syphon away in the name of safety? Then there is my husband. He's flying today. He'll be back tomorrow, but every time he gets on a plane, another ugly demon slips into my life. I'm a worrier (can you tell???) so if I let myself, I can come up with so many worse-case scenarios in real life, I drive everyone in my life crazy. Writers can do that.

Ah, the glamourous life of the writer. I'm typing this while sitting in my pajamas. I've gorged myself on coffee and guava pastries left over from my series launch party yesterday for "Dirty Little Secrets," where I chatted with readers and fellow writers (one of my favorite things) for two hours and was asked over and over "when does the second book come out?" The enthusiasm in their voices for the next installment was overwhelmingly wonderful on one side and terrifying on the other because that's the book that isn't done. It will be done, of course. I have two more scenes to write. The first 300 pages are edited and clean. My critique partner is reading the next batch of 60 pages as I type the last 20 or so. I can slay this demon. This is a demon I've slayed before...and yet, the fear is the same. The sweat, blood and tears are the same. So I guess my point is that when you read a book you love, take a minute to drop the author an email. Chances are, even the fluffiest, funniest book you've read meant a lot of demon slaying for the author. And knowing that my words often help my readers slay their own demons, even if only in giving them a few hours of escape, is what gives me the courage to fight the good fight. So off I go to slay away!

***
USA Today Bestselling author Julie Leto lives in Florida with her husband, daughter and a very spoiled dachshund. The first book in her "Dirty" series...DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS is out this month. The follow up book, which will be done this week, is tentatively titled DIRTY LITTLE LIES and will be released in June 2006. Check out more about her at http://www.marisela.info