Getting Ready To Write

We're talking about fueling our creativity this week, and Liz and Nan have both had great posts about brainstorming and writerly contact...so much that I'm taking a little bit of a different approach.

Because fueling is also about...well, fueling. As in energy. As in food.

You thought we sat around eating chocolates and chips and sipping fizzy drinks? I won't lie, that sometimes happens - especially at writer's retreats and conferences and, heck, last Sunday evening. For me, eating is as much part of my getting-ready-to-write process as reading over the previous day's notes or brainstorming a plot point with my writer girls. Sucking on a hard candy or chomping an almond can help me jump from This Character Is Horrible to This Character Has Bad Self-Image Because ____.

For the past four-ish months I've made a concerted effort to concentrate on the actual health benefits of the foods and drinks I put into my body and that means a Hershey bar or a stack of Pringles can't be the go-to..not even when the deadline monster is breathing down my neck and I really, really, really need the comfort food.

The big problem with chocolates and chips and fizzy drinks is that they are basically sugar bombs and those lead to naps and full-on mental crashes. Here are a few of my favorites:

Sliced apples with peanut butter (or caramel, if I'm feeling particularly splurgy)
A serving of cashews or almonds
Trail Mix
Iced tea or water
Grape tomatoes
Green Smoothie (kale, yogurt, a bit of protein powder and frozen berries)

I can - and have - written everywhere from the hallway outside my kid's pre-school room to the local Starbucks to an airport gate on my way to Disney World. If I've got the right music and a little something to munch on, my writer muse is ready to go. And, I have to say that since making the switch from chips/chocolates/sodas to teas/nuts/fruits, I haven't felt deprived at all. My energy level stays at a more even keel and I don't get those late afternoons sleepies that I used to get. I still snack on Pringles or have a soda now and again, but I don't have the crazy cravings that I was having when all I snacked on were sugars and carbs. I also think my concentration is better, which helps me get into and stay into my books.

So that is how I'm fueling my writing - with food that also fuels my body. Do you have a go-to snack?

Oh! And I have to give a little shameless plug: it's release week for me! My latest contemporary,
What the Bachelor Gets, is available wherever e-books are sold (and the print version won't be far behind). This is the first in my Billionaire Cowboys trilogy - 3 cowboy brothers + Las Vegas -- what's not to love? Here's a little bit about the book:

All Gage Reeves wants is to make a success of his new luxury shopping development on the Vegas Strip. Callie Holliday dreams of having the hottest day spa in Vegas. For these childhood friends, business is becoming decidedly personal...and it's risky business gambling on love.

Buy What the Bachelor Gets:

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Comments

  1. Great post, Kristi! And now I'm hungry again (even though I've just eaten my breakfast bag-o-bacon)! Cutting out carbs and sugars certainly help keep my energy levels up, too!

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  2. You are so good! I avoid refined sugar as much as is feasible, but carbs are my favorite things in the world, so that part's not working out too well.

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    Replies
    1. it's hard!!! And I have more 'bad' days than 'good', but I'm trying!

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  3. Since I was diagnosed last year with diabetes, I've been following a low carb diet and actually found it pretty darned easy. I've lost like 20 pounds or so. My new go-to snacks are the Chobani flips--100 calories, love the strawberry/chocolate one, my special treat mix that includes: chocolate chips, Skippy PB balls, and almonds/pecans--heavier on the nuts, than the sweets,and when I need a little hot-sweet kick, a few cinnamon jelly bellies. I didn't say I was perfect.

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    Replies
    1. those Chobani things sound great!! I'm going to check them out.

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