Do you remember the first time you reinvented yourself?

Whether betrayed by your best friend, first love, someone you trusted or someone who hated you, you figured out how to pick up the pieces and start all over again. You reinvented yourself.

That “starting all over” process fascinates me. With not a shred of science to back me up, I think women tend to reinvent themselves more frequently and more creatively than men. Nature or nurture?

Don’t know, but the new brain science of neurogenesis grabs my imagination. Challenging our brains and bodies, it seems, grows new brain connections. We meet career changes and family crises optimistically. We soar through ups and downs in our love lives. We take on injustices and musings about the eternal mysteries of the cosmos with excitement and creativity.

The result? We live full, satisfying lives.

I’m at one of those regenerative crossroads right now. After publishing two romantic comedies, Prince of Frogs and Queen of the Universe, I’m looking for a publisher for my newest novels. These books fall outside the romance genre. “Experts” warn writers without a reputation to avoid writing cross-genres. Become established in one area, then branch out is the accepted wisdom.

So I face some options: continue writing in the same genre, stop writing, whine, doubt my abilities, or reinvent myself. I’ve decided to step out on a high wire, take the risk I’ll survive without a safety net and write what I love.

Check out my journal, Tangents, to see if I crash and burn . . . Or get published. Or give up. Or cross that high wire one painful, necessary, exciting, damn painful step at a time.

Drop me a note with your thoughts about the excerpts I post from the new books, the topics in Tangents, your own reinvention story, or your thoughts on this whole idea of reinvention.

You’ll notice I’m journaling instead of blogging. Everyone is on the blog-wagon these days, but I’m pretty sure daily blogging would make me crazy. Crazy is not part of my reinvention plan.