SHE'S BA-ACK! Miranda Baker dishes about the disconnect between our self-image and reality

Hey there! It’s great to be back on Once Written, Twice Shy. You know, it’s funny - the last time I blogged here I posted the link on Twitter and tweeted something along the lines of, “I’m secretly shy…come read why.”

One of my followers replied, “I don’t believe you.”


Huh.


Truly, I’ve been pondering that little exchange ever since. Is shy how you feel or how you act? Does the fact that I write erotic romance mean I can’t lay claim to shyness? Or is it the tweeting, Facebooking and blogging that knock me out of the running for the shy girl of the year award? I bet it was the picture of myself in a corset that I posted on my blog, right?

Here’s the thing, and it’s a little tricky to explain. I feel shy. I think of myself in the wings even though I have trained myself to perform. I might always see myself as shy because self-image rarely, if ever, has any basis in reality. Maybe there are some really grounded people out there who see themselves as they are, as everyone else sees them, because they are all copacetic and at peace with themselves. I think the rest of us have a bit of a disconnect between self-image and reality.


A few months ago, I was watching a burlesque documentary (A Wink and a Smile: The Art of Burlesque) and one of the performers said something along the lines of “I feel my self-image limits what I can do.” That really resonated with me. She challenged her perception of herself by performing on stage mostly naked. I don’t think I’ll go that far, at least not this week, but I will blog, tweet and Facebook while continuing to lay claim to shyness. Just because my first instinct is to withdraw doesn’t mean I don’t like interaction. I crave connection, it’s the judgment I fear. Guess that makes sense since I’ve been thinking about what that Twitter follower said for so long!


SoloPlay (see buy links below), the second book in my Come Again series, was released this week. The heroine is a shy librarian who embarks on a sexual and emotional journey that transforms her life. Is it so simple to abandon shyness in real life? Perhaps not, but Alisa’s story is exciting, at moments even taboo, and it might inspire a few of us to step out of the wings for a while!


About Miranda--It makes me chuckle to think about all the romantic short stories I wrote in my rather too literary creative writing classes in college. If only one of my professors had steered me toward popular fiction! On the other hand, if I had discovered my calling back then, I wouldn’t have gone to culinary school, I wouldn’t have met my husband, we wouldn’t have had three children and I wouldn’t have turned to erotic romance to get my mojo back during all this hair-raising kid raising.


SoloPlay
It takes two to toy with love.
Come Again, Book 2
Buy links, take your pick!
Samhain Publishing
Amazon
Barnes and Noble