Kicking Angst To The Curb

I can’t seem to stay away from Angst. It’s basically my bad boyfriend. At first I just saw him on the side, enjoying the occasional hot and illicit dalliance. One night became two. Two nights became a week. Two weeks became a whole book. And another book. And then yet one more, until I’d get the shakes after he left, wondering what I’d do without him. Could I really write a book without a lot of drama? Would it feel the same? When things are good, they’re so good. I love Angst like nobody’s business. But then I started seeing bad talk from readers about how Angst was up to no good. How he’d brought way too much drama with him, and they didn’t want to read about it anymore. They’d just had enough.

Where was the FUN? Where was the light sexy banter that had once been lamented as fluffy but now seems to be in short supply? Why can’t a couple just have a good time together that leads to more? Why does it have to be so hard?

(And why is my own angst leading me to ask so many questions?)

So I decided instead of lamenting my lack of Angst in my current book, I’d enjoy it. I’d enjoy the fun and stop trying to let Angst’s evil machinations create melodrama where it wasn’t needed. This time I’d ride the sexy/fun/playful pony all the way to the finish line and stop considering the deeper ramifications of a blue condom over silver. Sometimes a rubber really is just a rubber, whether it is latex or a ducky.

I just turned in an angsty book. It’s my thing lately. So that means I need to find a new thing for a while, to keep myself fresh. Everyone needs a little variety now and then. My variety will be writing a fun, sexy book that isn’t about anything deeper than enjoying sex, friendship, and discovering how deep your feelings for someone really run. That’s it. No discovering you’re bisexual after a lifetime of being hetero. No secret affairs with the boss’s daughter that have turned you into a cold shell of a man. No wondering about the broader implications of having a threesome and what society will think of you. For once, I shall write a menage book that is just about enjoying a menage and falling further in love. It won’t be a kiwi masquerading as a tomato disguised as a cantaloupe.

So...what about you? What’s your mood du jour when it comes to your current reading/writing preferences? Are you all about the angst or do you prefer a lighter read? Or does it depend on the characters and the circumstances?