I hate excuses and pity parties! I HATE them...because writing is a job. Yes, we all get sick. Take your sick days as needed and keep plugging along. I'm not suggesting we don't need time off or things don't happen to throw us off. Big illnesses, deaths in the family, and so on can derail us for weeks. But true writers write...we can't help it. We'll find a new routine and eek out the time to get something done.
And we all NEED vacations. Take them :)
When my mom went into the hospital and I suddenly became a part time care giver and driver...my normally very productive writing schedule was tossed out the window. Everything has revolved around her needs and appointments. For a time she couldn't be left alone. A big chunk of time for writing has been very hard to get. Maybe I'll get one day off but I still need to clean and do laundry and other errands for myself.
So I've been editing, noting out story ideas, and promoting around my other duties. In a week or two, the doctor follow ups will be done and hopefully things can go back to mostly normal. Her recovery has been steady. I'm frustrated that I'm not writing a lot like before but I'm still finding ways to spend time with my writing.
I didn't share a lot or in detail about my mother because so many writers out there are guilty of whining or worse--lying. People are bullying them. Or life kicked them. How do you know what's true and what's not? (Maybe I'm really jaded but several writers have been caught lying about being bullied for sympathy sales and it's disgusting).
Plus, setbacks happen in life. Whether it's health or a book doesn't sell the way you hoped. Stuff happens. It's frustrating (oh yes, it is! I want to be writing all day!!!). But I wasn't raised to be 'oh poor me' and all that. You do what you have to do and get on with it.
Don't misunderstand. We all vent a bit at times. Life can be frustrating. If I let myself go negative, I can stay there for a long time and get really down. So I try not to put that on FB or in social media too much. Minor things like the dentist--we can all relate to that. But private stuff in detail, that's just not me.
Changes...
There was a time when I had a novella releasing a month but that time is over. Partly because I parted with a publisher who wasn't handling things professionally. This stuff happens too. You think something is working and whammo, someone lets the truth slip out. I like the truth but it radically changed my writing plan.
But that's neither here nor there.
I'm not playing the victim card because I'm not. But I feel I should share that there will be big changes from me. The last two months have hijacked my writing, more or less, and my publisher preferences have changed. Therefor, I won't have as many releases happening in the next six months.
The good news???? I'm going to be branching out to a new genre and longer books. Hopefully it's a success. A little risk can be scary but when so much is changing, why not dare to do something different?
Next release:
Blake's Home (MM rancher/ shifter) Oct 14th from Loose Id
More planned in the Men of Alaska series!
For now, I'll keep the new genre and that stuff to myself...until I have more concrete dates and so on.
