School Starts on the 6th! December 31, 2008

Well I was all ready to hit the book revision HARD on Monday, the fifth, after my darling daughter headed back to school. Haha… not. Apparently, our school district heads back on Tuesday! And I lose Friday because we have to head north for an orthodontist appointment. Blah!!

I was bummed out. But then I decided that just because she was “off” didn’t mean that I wasn’t working. So I informed her that I would be writing on Monday as planned. I have a lot I want to accomplish in 2009 and dilly dallying won’t help me. She is fine with that as she would just as soon sleep than anything. So, I will write in the morning for a good three hours and then be a mom in the afternoon.

I can’t believe we are almost in 2009. As I look over my spread sheet of the goals and tasks for my family and myself for 2008, I am blown away by how much I’ve accomplished. On the second, I am sitting down and working out those goals again for the family and myself. It’s an interesting exercise and fun to check off everything on the lists as the months go by!

Just about A New Year and I’m Ready December 30, 2008

It’s been a crazy year for me and my family. As one person at a writing group put it, “life hijacked me.” We moved. And it wasn’t an easy process. I flew to the new city with my family to check it out January 2008. We found schools we liked, areas we liked, and houses we loved. We landed on January 29th back in VA and two and half weeks later my house was on the market.

I make it sound easier than it was. In a nutshell, I gave birth to a staged house. And that was a monumental effort. I learned a few things about myself:

*I can sleep in my clothes and wear them the next day to run around looking for paint to match my walls

*my personal handyman, N, had the secret to life: don’t panic, I can fix it. And he did and I miss him.

*I can box up half my house and watch it drive away in storage units

*who needs comfort when they can have a model home?

*my real friends were there for me at the oddest of times

*my other friends were not real friends

*I can survive an economic downturn and sell a house in 1 month!

Then we turned around and purchased a house on the internet using a realtor my VA realtor recommended. I learned a lot from that experience, too:

*as long as you have a tough realtor, anything is possible

*you can buy a house on the internet

*you can order idiots working for builders around via all caps in emails long distance

*you can live in three places in the span of two months

*you can make a new life happen while living the old one

Then we moved into the new house and I learned:

*that if you complain, people will come through and make things right

*box cutters are a must

*wrist guards are a must

*dust? what dust?

After we moved into the house and got settled, I learned that I can:

*drive 12 hours with a teen and see my old friends
*starting a new life is easy with a positive attitude
*I am a most excellent nester

And through it all, I learned something about myself as a writer because I entered contests, placed third in one contest, and I continued to write. Now I am revising my third book and am almost at the finish line–again.

So I am really excited about the new year because this year I don’t have to move. I just have to keep doing what I started, and I have more time to do it. Yeah! I am setting bigger goals for myself this year. I am going for the gold as far as time spent in front of the computer banging out stories. And I am aggressively marketing my books–again!

And now, back to revising book three.

Taking Time to be with Family December 27, 2008

Now that Christmas has come and gone, I’ve enjoyed spending time with my family. Christmas morning came a bit too early, but we survived and I had a huge nap afterward. We’ve enjoyed watching our new movies, playing our new games on the Wii and trying out the Wii Fit package. Turns out I have horrible balance from sitting cross legged at a desk. No surprise considering the hours I spend in front of the computer.

We’ve hosted guests, a few too many, but still had fun. And I’ve managed to write a few times. Today we are heading to Nashville to see the Rockettes Show and spend the night there. So there will be no writing today or tomorrow. But that is okay. Everyone needs a break, including me.

I made up my mind about the BIAW course. It’s not possible right now. I don’t want to take away from the book I am revising, and the timing of this BIAW course overlaps my work. I need a break and a chance to refresh myself before I start a new one. At least I KNOW what I want to write and the target market. That’s a step in the right direction.

I’ve learned a lot about myself as a writer through doing the Golden Heart and attempting a tiny amount of writing every day. One very positive outcome is the knowledge that if I go back to work so my kid can go to college, I can still write an hour a day and get quite a lot accomplished. It might take me longer to finish a book, but I can still finish one. Sometimes baby steps are better than no steps at all. Writing isn’t an all or nothing proposition for me anymore. At one point, I had considered quitting altogether if I am not published by the time I am 50, but now I don’t feel that way.

It would kill me not to write my stories, even if the only people who read them are judges for writing contests and my critique group.

I hope I always feel that way.

One More Sleep! December 24, 2008

I have to admit I am a sucker for Christmas morning. And this year is no exception. We are incredibly blessed during a very difficult time in our world. We have our health, a beautiful new home, and a healthy child. My husband and I still enjoy rattling around the cage together after 23 years of marriage. Life is good.

I am also following my heart and pursuing my dreams because I have the support of my family.

And I’ve learned that I have the ability to write in any circumstance. If I have an hour a day or so, give or take, I can keep plowing forward. That is a good thing to know should I return to the workforce after my daughter goes to college.

I’ve given myself time to pursue the goal and a deadline for publishing. If I am not published by the time I am 50, I will reevaluate and look to getting a part time job as well as continue my writing. I thought at first I would give it up completely, but I have no desire to do that and now I know I can do both–heck I am raising my child and writing. Why can’t I work and write for nothing till I am published.

The greatest gift is knowing you have found your passion and are pursuing it without regard for the reward or the end of the game.

One more sleep till Christmas, but in this house, I feel I have already been given the greatest of all gifts… home, health, happiness!

Deadlines in a Surreal World December 23, 2008

I want to do Book in a Week. But it starts January 5th and I am not sure I can give this 3rd book what it needs if I rush through it. I counted the pages left and I need to revise/work on 10 pages a day over 10 days if I want to finish it before the 5th. I don’t see that happening. Not realistically in my world of being mom, wife, maid, and friend over the next 12 days. Christmas is off, the first is off, and surprises happen. Meanwhile, I am hosting 3 more events at my place. When am I supposed to focus on 10 pages a day?

I am seeing where I am at by this Friday. Then I will make a decision.

If someone were paying me, I would have no choice. But how do I justify time away from my other “jobs” if I am not getting paid for this one?

Christmas Week December 22, 2008

I managed to get through a weekend where I had to organize and hold a work party for my DH and held a sleepover for the little miss. We also delivered goodie bags to 8 neighbors. Writing accomplished-zero. Monday morning, 3 sleeps till Christmas and I hope to accomplish some writing this week until the 25th. We’ll see if I succeed. At this point, merely writing a half an hour a day might be more manageable, with less guilt, and it’s equivalent to 100 words a day. Anything more is a crapshoot.

Goals for the week:

*write Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday
*write a minimum of half an hour a day or more on each of those days
*continue reading about writing
*ponder the BIAW course and decide if I want to take it by Friday morning

The Last Day of the Semester December 19, 2008

I have one half day left till Christmas break. Wahoo!! I am writing for one hour today–actually decided to punt an entire scene. Not sure what that means for the next scene, but it is highly necessary to move the book along. Agh, I hate cutting scenes, but when I write it on my MS about three or more times asking if I should cut or save, it usually means CUT! Argh.

Does cutting a scene count as writing?

One hour today. Then walk, shop, get ready for a big party, and more. I am going to stick to this. Last night we discussed my going back to work after daughter goes to college. Argh again. I hate regular hours, stupid bosses and no vacation time. I MUST get published before my daughter goes to college. That gives me exactly 3.5 years. And I remember a time capsule we did in the millenium in which I wrote I would be a published author by 2012!! That’s not so far away now.

At least I’ve written three books since I wrote that statement. Now I need to sell one, and quick!! New year’s resolution is to write faster, work smarter, and get marketing!!

The countdown begins!!

The Week Slips Away December 18, 2008

Everything was fine until I got the call from my daughter about her hand–oops! Tripped over her two left feet, landed funny on her hand, and off to the doctor we went. Wednesday we went to the orthopedist to have it examined… well anyone who’s been to an ortho’s office knows that is tpically a 2-3 hour wait and exam time. And it was exactly 2 hours! Then lunch, then home, then homework, then cook, then well… no writing on Wednesday at all.

Today I went to Nashville and managed zip in front of the computer till now. And there won’t be real writing until tomorrow. Got goodies to make, a party to plan, and shopping/cooking to do for the party. Oh, and somewhere in there I must clean. Thank God I don’t have a job I have to drive into on a regular basis. Otherwise, I’d accomplish none of the above.

Tomorrow–1 hour! I promise myself.

A Cat on My Lap and A Day to Refocus December 16, 2008

Well I think I’ve discovered that the weather really distracts me from writing. It’s rainy and cold out there and all I want to do is hunker neath the covers and read a book. Writing? Bah humbug. And I have a ton of goodies still to make… by myself because my daughter is swamped with school work and finals and recitals and the list goes on.

How will I ever do even one hour today? But I will. This blog is the first step into the writing forest. At some point I will write for one hour this morning.

The only thing suffering is my exercise routine. I joined a gym to go workout there on crappy days like this–group fitness starts at 8:30am. But I haven’t gone since the week before Thanksgiving because the day just sucks if I break up my morning. And the main reason I joined was to make new friends. Ha. That hasn’t happened. Nobody really talks there. Well one person did approach me, but it was to give me a pointer on how to stomp more quietly on my step … so much for making new friends. She didn’t even give me her name first!

Maybe that is why I am not going to that gym.

Or maybe I am just a lazy von lazerson type person because I am tired, I have a sinus infection, and all I want to do is sleep on cold, nasty rainy days. The fact that I write at all at this point is already a minor miracle.

So, grumpy and tired, and lazy to boot. But I will write my hour today. I will!

Ten Days till Christmas–Countdown! December 15, 2008

The closer the big day is to arriving, the less writing I manage to accomplish. I went shopping Friday, Saturday was a big recital day, and Sunday I prepared goodies for giveaways all afternoon. I haven’t written one word for my MS since Thursday.

But I am not upset at myself this year, because I have done more in the month of December than I ever did before and I am making progress. I tell myself I will write, but if I get distracted, I tell myself that other “working” people are taking two weeks off of work starting Saturday. So I can, too. If I want. I am not under an editor’s knife, having to get anything done. Any work I do is because I am under my own knife.

And my “knife” is a little dull right now. I usually take most of December off so I can enjoy the holidays. This year I haven’t taken as much time off, but I’ve still had fun. Now, I have ten days to finish shopping, wrapping and making goodies. And it suddenly feels like writing is not as important as Christmas preparations.

However, I am still setting the following goal for my last week of writing without family around.

*write 1 hr a day till Friday

After that, it’s a crap shoot. I may manage to get 1 hr in per day the 22, and 23 of December, but I doubt much will happen until after Christmas. Everyone deserves a holiday. Even unpaid writers!

I will be back in the saddle in the New Year. And I have a lot of goals for the new year. I also feel proud of all I have accomplished this year despite moving to a new state and starting my daughter in a new school system. I managed to finish a book, place third in a contest, and send off my MS to the Golden Heart. Not too shabby given all the changes. I have to ask myself, how much more will I accomplish in 2009 without the major distractions!?

And now, back to reality. I still have a household to run and a book to finish revising.