FINDING MY MOJO

 

By Caroline Clemmons

Mojo

Mojo (mainly US, informal, slang)

Mojo is a singular noun meaning magic, power, (life) energy or something intangible. It can mean anything, but it is mostly used to mean magic. For example, saying “I’ve lost my Mojo” means you can no longer do something as well as you did before, or maybe you are downcast, depressed.

Where's my Mojo?

There you have it—me. For the last few weeks, I have spent too much time contemplating life instead of either cleaning out the bedroom closet or concentrating on writing my next book. I like the characters of the book, but the plot was getting too far off my usual stories. I have been despondent. Fortunately, Hero is patient and hasn’t told me to get over myself.

In general, authors are highly strung individuals who spend a lot of time listening to characters only they can hear. You may be thinking that mental institutions are filled with people who have similar problems—and you’d be right. The difference is that authors understand that no one else can know these characters unless we translate what’s in our heads onto the computer monitor.

Author obsessing about sales

We also totally obsess over methods to sell our books. Should we have ads on Facebook and Amazon? Does our newsletter have enough opens and clicks? Are the new covers working? Should we run an ad on this site or another? Would we recoup the expense of a Book Bub ad?



But I digress. You see, I lost my Mojo a couple of months ago. I moped around the house, spend too much time on Messenger and Facebook and email, read too many books, dithered over this and that, until it’s a wonder my family didn’t take me to a mental hospital.

This is about retrieving my Mojo! I have to thank Australian author Margaret Tanner, whose books I enjoy. In a Facebook author group, she mentioned that she doesn’t run ads and doesn’t have a newsletter, yet she makes a living wage. (Not luxury living, but a watch-your-budget living). Reading her comments was as if Margaret had come to my house, taken me by the hand, and said, “Just write. Write what you love.”

Me at Margaret's news

So, that’s what I’m doing and my Mojo is back! I put aside the book I was struggling to like well enough to finish. Joyfully, I started work on a new book that I love. I hope you will love it, too. It's titled KEITH AND THE MAIL ORDER BRIDE. He is such a cutie!

Celebrating--sure, that's how I look. To

be truthful, my hair is shorter than this.

(Would you like to buy a bridge?)

Stay safe and keep reading!