de-stress

I control my stress from tight deadlines (and other life stresses) by doing miniatures. I've been doing them since I was ten years old and saw no reason to stop when I grew up. I'm not the only one; it's a fairly popular hobby.

When I was writing "Viva Las Vampires" for the anthology that's out next month (see my website), I had just bought a very cool 1/4" scale dollhouse kit from Debbie Young (Young at Heart), that contained everything to build the house from the ground up, including wallpaper and flooring.

I wrote my novella and built the house at the same time. I'd write until my brain was tired, then go in and build the dormer window and the attic roof, then while the glue was drying write some more. I completed the entire house and the novella at about the same time. I don't have pictures of the house up yet, but will soon. The interior decorating is not quite done yet.

Now while writing the Immortals and the dragon books, I'm doing a 1" scale bed and breakfast that's coming along nicely. I bought the house already built and partially decorated (wallpaper in most rooms plus outside complete), and stared at it for a long time before I hit upon the B&B idea. I bought a bunch of fabric and am experiementing with colors and patterns. It's shaping up very nicely and I hope to be done by the end of the year, enough to post pictures.

Also, I reward myself with minis. When I get an advance or royalty check, I take a little bit out and buy a piece from an artistan that I've always wanted, or I let myself go to a show and go nuts (which is how I ended up with the 1/4" house). The last reward was a beautiful chair from Kari Bloom:



Her work is amazing. I bought the art deco lamp from Little Lamplighter in Las Vegas to go with it (yes, it really lights up!).

Anyway, I have a bunch of my minis posted at my web site (http://www.jennifersromances.com/Miniatures/miniatures.html) It might seem a strange hobby for a writer to have, but it releases a lot of creative tension when I need it to.

Jennifer