Life Gets In the Way...and some Changes

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.

Mike & Molly reviews (January)/ Sean Gone...Big Bang commentary too

Sorry about not blogging regularly...but honestly, since the great Christmas episodes, I've been sort of bummed with sitcoms...The Big Bang Theory hasn't been on weekly, lots of reruns AND the sad crap about Penny's career shifting her to propose? WTF! I was soooo disappointed. I'm not a Penny fan as it is and I wanted her to be more independent...Ugh. However, Sheldon is always funny...his impression of a good dog is priceless :)



But seriously Sean Saves the World...stopped production. I liked this sitcom at first. Some of the episodes fell flat. I kept waiting for them to take a chance. To go edgier. It's a sitcom, sure. It's on network TV...but so what? There's a teenager daughter but still....Sean never gets a boyfriend? No dates that sleep over? His mom got more action!

Why have a sitcom with a gay central character and ignore it...sure jokes and oh you had a daughter? How did that happen? It's actually an old joke...which could've shined if they dared to push the envelope. They had good comic talent but it was all held back to not offend/upset people. So it's probably canceled.

Mike & Molly is doing better...I do love the added balance. But it's up and down...

1/13: What Molly Hath Wrought...


This episode ROCKED! Molly drunk/setting fire to her paper. Awesome! Mike putting out the fire with the sink sprayer. Very cool...As a writer, I get how she feels. Some stuff you read and it's great. Some stuff sucks. That's the life of a writer and it can be depressing. Her going to work with Vince and getting out is exactly right. Put the mundane part of your brain to work and your creative part gets a rest and starts to click in. Doing dishes and laundry works well too...


(Note: you can't just go drive a forklift...you actually would need to be trained but with Vince in charge...lol)



1/20: Mike & Molly's Excellent Adventure

I hated this episode. Sorry, but I did. She pubbed something on a blog. Fine. Celebrate:


A nice dinner out...a new cuisine to break out of the rut? That was my expectation.

No...let's test drove a Rolls Royce. Really? Then go to a fancy hotel and screw in a room. Funny but the stairwell thing was zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Really 70+ floors. Granted, some people Hustle up the Hancock every year for a race. But being overweight myself, sure it's good exercise but there's a point. Come on...we'll pound on the door and say we forgot our key card or something. Then make a run for it. That'd be funnier.

I get the idea of breaking people out of their routine, I love my routine, but it could've been set up better. A restaurant with exotic cuisine or something else...this episode was scattered and annoying.

Molly is supposed to be the sane one in her family...wine for mom and sis, plus pot for sis, pills for mom. Molly having a rebellious side is funny and fits her family but this was just weird. Wine with some super spicy Tai or Indian food could've been gold.


1/27: Weekend at Peggy's:

Now we're talking. Gnome through the window! Mom wants to be paid. She loves holding money over Molly... Love these actresses! they're perfect together :) Mike can actually pay off Joyce and Molly tries. But Joyce likes the power...




Molly gets a case of the big girl panties and wants to move out with Mike in tow. They end up at Mike's Mom's house...wow...so much less fun. Yet it's funny as hell with Peggy vacuuming in the middle of the night. She's awesome wacked out on sleeping pills. Dog licking feet...yuck...

Losing the little dog...of course it leads them home where tempers have cooled. Families who don't hold grudges are the best kind. That's what Molly has! This is what Mike & Molly does so well! It's not a big event or gag...it's the family/extended family dynamic, comic timing and delivery, and SITuation COMedy... the definition of a sitcom. Stay strong M&M...