Safer in the Shadows

 I'm a backstage person.  I like being at the edge of the spotlight, not in the heat of it.  When I posted my Crime Writers Association profile this week, I asked some friends to check if the posting had worked, and they sent me screenshots that made me feel that heat.  It was real; I'm online.  My skin actually tingled.  I felt like I had jumped onto centre stage without knowing my lines - or even what character I'm supposed to play. 

When I was backstage, my identity as a writer could be internal.  I could think in terms of character and dialogue on my own. Strive for the words to create vivid descriptions of what is around me without any contribution from anyone else.  But now, for the first time, there is an audience.  I am visible.  It's quite the plot twist.