Confession time. Writing doesn’t come easy for me. There, I’ve said it.

Oh sure, I’ve fooled publishers, readers and myself into thinking I can write well enough (as testified by my novels) and I can sometimes conjure word-counts from out of nowhere with enough coffee in my bloodstream. But those words are too often quickly sacrificed the next morning when I edit what I penned the day before and am forced to start over (I’ve re-written this blog entry three times already). The cold hard truth is that I’ve never kept a journal and my own authors blog is as dry as a bone when it comes to “regular” content. (Make that four…no FIVE times.)

So you can imagine my shock and surprise when asked to join as a regular contributor to the Speculative Faith blog. After all, I’d done nothing to prove myself worthy of this feat.

Don’t get me wrong, I love writing. I just don’t like being put on-the-spot.

With blogging, you don’t have the luxury of time to let ideas germinate and grow. It’s more raw and unpolished than writing a novel. Here, in the blogosphere, I can’t hide behind a story as easily. My words become instantly and permanently public (which may one day get me into trouble).

Blogging, like jazz, can’t be edited. It has no room for second takes. It’s raw, uncut and risky. In other words, all the things we novel writers detest. See, we are recording artists, by nature. We like to make our paintings in the sanctity and security of our own private worlds. When our masterpieces are finished – our children ready for the “real world” – we let them out and cry a little but are always glad to see them find their way and get the recognition they deserve.

“So,” you may ask, “why are you committing to a weekly post for SpeculativeFaith.com?”

Because blogging scares the boogers out of me, and that’s why I absolutely MUST do it. To be perfectly candid, it was a similar fear that convinced me to write novels in the first place. I didn’t think I had the chops to do that either.

In the end, I’ve decided to take up the challenge of weekly blogging because I’m a writer, after all, and we writers are fools, if nothing else. We con ourselves into believing lies about what we can and can’t do all the time. Writing is important to me and I think it’s high time I experienced more of it by adding a bit of this crazy-blogging-word-jazz stuff to my life. Who knows, I might end up liking it.

So this is your invitation to join me every Tuesday for a series of blog posts that are sure to knock your socks off (if I ever get the hang of it). Just one question remains…what on earth will I write about next week!?!