I write so that my blood won't shrivel

I write so that my blood won't shrivel.

Years and years ago, (actually, almost a decade ago if I'm being honest), I used to stay up late chatting with friends online. We talked about lots of crazy things: vampires and Hogwarts and religion and fairy tales and glitter bombs. And we wrote. Lots and lots and lots.

We also made graphics. This was the beginning of the digital meme age, and it was also the beginning of the age when everyone made their own graphics to share on the very very first Facebook apps that no one uses and barely remembers anymore.

And we wrote. Lots and lots and lots.

The melding of all of this came together one night when my friend Andy and I were having a long conversation about the Dark Side and Cookies. I think we were making jokes about the light side having milk AND cookies, or oreos, or something. It was a decade ago, okay? My memory is good, but not that good. Anyhow, somehow the subject got around to writing, and why we wrote. At that point I did a LOT of my writing very late at night. Or rather, very early in the morning. I might be tired, but I couldn't sleep until I'd written something. It was a compulsion. Andy and I were discussing this compulsion and I proclaimed "I write so that my blood won't shrivel."

Andy thought this was great, so we made it into a graphic, and it became an in-joke, our own little meme. But it was more than a meme for me, it was true. Perhaps not quite literally true, but psychologically. Expressing myself through storytelling is a core part of who I am. It has been this way since before I could spell words and made my parents write my stories for me. (No joke. I used to dictate diary entries to my parents, grandparents and babysitters when I was five.)

And it remains this way. Yesterday I was so wrapped up in my current novel that I had to literally tear myself away from the computer just to keep my body from freezing up and bringing on fibro pain.

I believe that storytelling is one of the things God made me to do in this world. I thank him and I praise him and I love people and I tell stories. (And also design clothing. That's another thing that will shrivel my blood if I am separated from it too long. But this post is about the writing.)

I write so that my blood won't shrivel.

What part of your life is that essential piece, that your soul cries out to do every day? Make time to do that. 

Don't forget, I am running a giveaway this week with fun prizes like a signed copy of my novel and Parisian Mermaid jewelry. Check it out here!