Coffee, I need more coffee…

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It’s too early to be Monday! I know, it’s a holiday and my son is out of school, so why am I up this early. Well, my internal clock refuses to sleep past seven. So, I’m up and writing already. Of course I do have to go to the office in a couple of hours. It’s tax season, so I have to work.

I’m already on my second cup of coffee. The first cup was just a primer of sorts. It’s dreary and cold outside. So my body is in denial about being awake, which makes it hard to get going.

To make things more interesting, as I opened my calendar of release dates, need to be at the editor dates, and all my writing deadlines, I panicked. Being the smart girl I am, and use that term loosely, I looked at this weeks writing agenda, then panicked. Of course, since I’m not completely awake, I looked at next week, not this week. Let’s just say I broke out in a cold sweat thinking I had to turn in Lily to my editor.

Then, finally, I realized that today is the 15th, not the 22nd. To say I was relieved is putting it lightly. I almost shouted, because adding over 8000 words to my already crazy word count this week would be brutal, to say the least.

So, how’s your Monday so far? I know several of you are already deep into this day, so has it been a typical Monday or extraordinary one?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

It’s almost Christmas!

Good Monday morning folks were you ready for Monday yet! Me neither! As you know, I love my coffee, but this morning it’s not good at all. Since I was half asleep when I put the coffee together last night, it’s highly likely I put one too many scoops in the filter. Oh well, I’m still gulping it down with a cringe. I’ll probably be running on high octane in about an hour.

Can you believe that Christmas is almost here? It’s in a couple of days, are you ready? I have a couple of gift cards to purchase, then I’ll be ready to go.

I’m pleased to announce that I did what I promised myself I’d do, I finished the Five Oaks Series before Christmas. All 6 books came out this year! Whew, I’m exhausted, but happy with the results. The Christmas book actually rounded the whole series out, with little bits of everyone’s life joined into one book.

Since the series is complete, I’ve been taking a couple of days to take a breath and go over my schedule for 2016. Can’t wait to reveal some of the books in the works, but my assistant would have a coronary if I tell everything 😉

Speaking of my assistant, she’s home from college for Christmas, so she’s busy creating wonderful covers for upcoming projects and yes, I’ve promised to keep them secret, but it’s so hard. She even talked me into this really cool calendar/journal. It stays beside me all the time. All my publish dates, finish dates, proofing dates, etc. are in there!

I just love it! The things inside of this fancy cover are top secret, well for a little while, but I’ll sneak some stuff out when I can.

So, are you finished shopping? Have you finished what you wanted to this year? If not, hop to it, the end of 2015 is almost here.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Struggle for Writing Time!

Do you have a hard time finding quality writing time? Do you struggle for a few minutes a day to put your thoughts and stories on paper? Does life, career and just general everyday chores get in the way? Well, if you’re a writer, it’s a real possibility that this has happened to you.

For me it’s a constant struggle. If you’re not ready to be a full time writer, then of course you have a job which takes up a lot of your weekday time. Not all of us have the luxury of writing being our full time job. That would be nice, but most writers are inevitably part time writers. But can we even go as far as calling ourselves part time writers. Let’s get real with the numbers. If you have a part time job, then it’s considered less than 30 hours a week. Most of us, me included, get less than 10 hours a week to actually sit down and write.

Oh yeah, then you have the need for quality writing time. This is time when it’s just you and your writing. There’s no outside interruptions, just you and your laptop or pad and pen, whichever is your preference.

Do we have the obedience to make the time happen everyday? Even if you have obedience, life can take over and throw that in the trash can. Let’s be truthful, it happens, so get over it. But, does it help to set aside time. Maybe even discuss it with family and state, “This is my writing time, so don’t interrupt me for an hour or so.” *Laughing uncontrollably* Sorry, but it doesn’t happen that way.

For me I try to schedule my writing time in the mornings after my son gets on the bus and my hubby leaves for work. It’s quiet except for the news low in the background. I also write at night as the family watches television. That way they’re into what’s on the tube while I write away. Some people ask how I concentrate with the tv in the background, well, it’s called totally immersed in my manuscript. Most of the time when I’m totally into a piece, I can get lost completely. I shut out everything in the background and it’s as if I’ve entered my characters world. If I’m having concentration issues, I just put on head phones and listen to one of my playlists. I say one of them, because it’s according to what I’m writing that decides the playlist. I have several by the way.

So, do you struggle for writing time? How do you set your times, or does life set it for you?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

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Time… A writer’s Nemesis…

Time. We all wish for more time in the day. I don’t know how many times I’ve been working on something and wished for 25 hours in a day instead of 24. Someone told me the other day that I had too many irons in the fire, but I don’t agree.

I love to be busy. It’s a good thing since I’m a wife, mother, Accountant, Children’s Minister, Author and self publisher. Wow, what a list 🙂 Sometimes it’s overwhelming, but then again it’s rewarding.

Everything I do is because of a passion. I’m not the type of person to jump into something that I don’t like to do. Some aspects of my passions are not my favorite things to do, but that’s the nature of the beast.

As a writer you need a little time everyday to put pen to paper or fingers to keys. I love writing and don’t always have those precious minutes to write. I usually write at night when my son is watching television or playing his musical instruments. My husband is usually reading or watching television as I tap away. Some people say, how can you write when the television is blaring in the background, well it’s easy. I go into a world of my own when I write. It’s really scary sometimes how immersed I get.

So, make a plan. Sit down and work out a schedule of your passions. Make sure you give ample time to each one. That’s my goal this week to set up a schedule for writing. I’m going to set aside a little time each day to get that done. It may sound crazy, but in my busy life I need this to stay sane…

First and foremost I have to make sure to put in time for my family and especially for my faith. I have a prayer time everyday which helps me to get through my day. If you don’t you need to try it. It sets the tone for the day.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

P.S. Continue to pray for Oklahoma.