Every so often a person just needs to reinvent herself. Maybe not so often as Madonna, but you know what I mean. Human beings are complex and colorful creatures, and if you try to pigeonhole us, well, we refuse to remain pigeons forever.

This, I guess, is my situation.

Last year was a whirlwind in my world. I published five books. Four of them were related to vampires in one way or another and heck, the fifth one had a vampire story in it too. I love vampires as much as ever, but five is a lot of titles for one year. Meanwhile, I’ve also tried to stay true to my original branding of “erotica with soul,” particularly on my blog and this column. I also continue to like reading and writing spicy romance, but again, this pigeon has been feeling peckish.

So, so far in 2010, apart from doing a bit of promo for How to Catch and Keep a Vampire, I’ve been enjoying getting back into some old hobbies, reading, watching TV and movies, and hanging out with family and friends. Wow, kind of like regular people who don’t have a publishing/writing business apart from their full-time job! It has been very fun and refreshing, but I can never go without writing for long.

Then I had this sudden idea.

It’s nothing spectacular, but I could tell by how excited I was about it that it was the answer, at least for the present time. A blog. Yeah, that’s it: just a blog. But a blog in which I could say whatever I want about whatever I want.

Doesn’t sound like much, hey? Not till you understand where I’m coming from. I tend to write things based on audience demand or assignment requirement. For example, for four years I wrote an ezine about NHL hockey humor, and every week I had to write jokes and content on the subject of hockey. Then I found an audience for erotica with soul, so for five years I wrote it and blogged about it. When I wrote Bloodchained I did it with a group of 63 readers who determined the subject and much of the content. And when I wrote the sequel it was because a lot of people wanted another book about the BC characters (heck, I did too). Even when I wrote HTCAKAV it was an assignment from the publisher.

But you get the gist. I hardly ever put fingers to keyboard without a mind to what people wanted or needed to read. There’s nothing wrong with putting readers ahead of your own ego, but I wonder if that, taken to extreme, doesn’t rather stifle one’s personal creativity and expression.

That may not be such a good idea.

So I’m trying this new little experiment: just saying what I feel like, the way I feel like. Who knows if it will be of interest to anyone else but me, but it’ll be interesting to see the “real me” come out a bit more fully. Of course, still under my same pen name. LOL

So my new blog, www.dianalaurence.blogspot.com, is just underway. I really think it’s going to be great fun for me. And there may even be an occasional post on erotica and/or vampires. But so far I’ve talked about things like the five year expiration date on Ben Linus, toys you love to throw up on, and kazoos imitating musical electric razors. All that makes sense in context, I assure you. Well, sort of.

And I’m going to take some liberties in this column too. I’m going to step out of the constriction of erotica and romance and share what’s on my mind, whatever bizarre circus of thought that may be. Will it still be relevant to a site called Novelspot? Am I still an author? You betcha. And I certainly have a lot to share about that.

So, this is hardly as earth-shattering as Daniel Radcliffe taking a role in “Equus.” Or even as Cat Stevens becoming Muslim. It’s not even Pluto-shattering, and Pluto’s no longer a planet. At best it’s like, Mall of America shattering, maybe.

See what you’re in for?

Diana Laurence's popular new book, How to Catch and Keep a Vampire: A Step-by-Step Guide to Loving the Bad and the Beautiful was released in September. She is also the author of the Soulful Sex anthologies of erotic romance fiction, and the vampire romance series Bloodchained (www.bloodchained.com), and many other titles. Visit her at www.dianalaurence.com or enjoy her blog at www.dianalaurence.blogspot.com.