The Blank Page - Amy Schisler

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Some days are like this. I sit and stare at a blank page. It mocks me, telling me that I have nothing of interest to say, that my words don’t matter, that my thoughts are inconsequential. It forces me to blink several times, looking away from the glare that stares back. I find myself seeking solace in other people’s words – on the Internet, in books, on the phone. My own words have failed me. They hide behind the cobwebs in the recesses of my mind. The harder I look for them, the more they shrink away, like a childish game of hide and seek.

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And when I find them, they take off running, a marathon of thoughts riddled with leaps and hurdles that only I can overtake. I reach for them, trying to harness their energy before letting it explode onto the page. And when the explosion takes place, letters, words, thoughts, dialogues, settings, characters, and ultimately a plot are unleashed, a seismic wave of ideas that leave me breathless. I can’t stop it, can’t roll it back, can’t contain the beast that it becomes. For days, weeks, months, I become a slave to the words that fill the once-blank pages. Clothes go unwashed, dinners go uncooked. My fingers fly fast along the keys until, at last, a solitary tear falls. I know that I have reached the end of the story, the end of the words.

And then I am back at the beginning. Looming in front of me is a blank page. My head pounds as the taunting grows louder. “Write,” it screams at me. And so, with fingers pressed to the keys, I close my eyes, return to the game of hide and seek, and draw my characters into the open once again.

The second book in Amy’s Chincoteague Island Trilogy, Island of Promise, will be available to pre-order on Tuesday, April 24, 2018.

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What I was writing about this time last year: Do You Believe in Miracles?

Amy Schisler is an award winning author of both children’s books and sweet, faith-filled romance novels for readers of all ages. She lives with her husband and three daughters on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Her books, Picture Me, Whispering Vines, and Island of Miracles are all recipients of Illumination Awards, placing them among the top inspirational fiction books of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Whispering Vines was awarded the 2017 LYRA Award for the best romance of 2016. Island of Miracles has outsold all of Amy’s other books worldwide and ranked as high as 600 on Amazon. Her latest children’s book, The Greatest Gift, is now available; and her novel, Summer’s Squall, can be found online and in stores.