Maxzyne Meets the Mannequins

Focus, focus, focus

I love using some of my own foibles in my characters. Just like Maxzyne, lack of focus is a big one for me. For example, when we moved to Florida recently, I had not driven a car for 15 years. I loved living in the heart of Chicago. Life was just a sidewalk, cab, EL or bus ride away. In the midst of the city hustle and bustle, I was free to wander everywhere, especially in my mind, whatever my destination. Distractions beckoned. I admired shop windows, dodged distracted tourists, avoided panhandlers, surveyed skyscraper windows and marveled as glittering lobbies disgorged lunchtime crowds like salmon swimming upstream, flowing into busy restaurants. All this, mingled with a cacophony of sirens, street musicians and screeching metal of the EL rushing overhead. There was so much to notice and absorb that it was almost sensory overload. Fortunately, I took that lack of focus and let it swirl, simmer and ferment in my brain, until this first book eventually oozed out, one chapter at a time. Now that I'm driving in Florida though, I sure do miss that lack of focus. I quickly re-discovered that driving requires I pay attention!