IWSG: February

 It's a new year, and it's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post! 

This month's question is: What do you love about the genre you write in most often?

I enjoy the 'what if' aspect of speculative fiction.

What if humanity had to evacuate Earth, after a long journey on one of the first seed ships, you finally arrive, only to discover other evacuees are already there and established, and you're outdated and irrelevant? 

What if you were told to kill the person you loved because they were guilty of a crime (and they are, but you feel their actions were justified) to gain the support you need to save your homeworld from an enemy? 

What if you wanted to have a child, but society says you don't qualify because if your ancestors' health history, even if you're perfectly healthy?

Sometimes I set out with a what if in mind from the beginning, other times it comes to me in the opening chapters when I'm contemplating the plot or during edits when I'm trying to refine the plotlines or character motivations. When what if questions cross and multiply, that becomes a fun bit of chaos to sort out, but I try to only do that with novels. Short stories tend to focus on a single question at the heart of it all. 

In other news...

Sorry about the lack of responding to comments and visiting blogs lately. I do read and appreciate them, really. Outside of writing, I've been dealing with aging Mother-in-law health issues - as in she may need to move in with us very soon. She's been falling more often and is no longer resisting the idea that she should probably not be living on her own. Several of us family members live within a ten minute radius, but when everyone has their cell phones on silent at 4am, and you fall when you get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, distance isn't the issue. While, we now have an app for that, I'd much rather know she's safe in bed. If that means we need to make room for another body around here, then I guess that's what needs to happen.

This week's fun was summed up with my sister-in-law taking her to the ER because her leg that was bruised from last week's fall swelled up due to poor circulation and the fact that she refuses to keep it elevated no matter how many times I tell her to do that when I'm over there. The more fun part was that she had no idea where her ID or insurance card was and was positive that I had it. I didn't. She put it...somewhere. Oh the joys of getting old (she's eighty-seven).

On top of not sleeping well (half-anticipating another 4am phone call), and not feeling quite right (daughter brought home some illness from school), I haven't been ultra productive outside of work, because paying the bills is top priority with what energy I have. Unfortunately, all things book don't pay the bills. So back burner for those items for the most part.

The 30in30 challenge is creeping along. That's my progress level. Creeping. My brain has been too scattered to be very productive even on my rewrite project. 

How's your February shaping up so far?