Saved by the #amwriting deadline ~ by Leah St. James

Several of our Roses have written in the past few months about being stuck in the writing doldrums, or something similar, where circumstances and/or mood keep the Muse away. I’m no different. In fact, I’ve shared in previous posts that I’ve been stuck in that mode for quite some time. Recently, though, I’ve started coming out of it, and I thought I’d share a what snapped me out of it.

It all started last fall when I was trying to write my short holiday story for our blog. We’d had the first line for months, and ideas had been floating around in my brain since, but I was having a hard time coming up with an actual story. The date of my first post kept creeping closer and closer like some creature with its claws out, ready to gouge me! Each time I’d post a monthly blog, I’d see more and more Roses who’d finished their stories and had them queued up for publication, and I still hadn’t started mine!

By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, I was starting to worry, and for the first time I started to doubt my ability to get the story done. I knew I could ask one of my fellow Roses to swap dates with me, and I’m confident someone would have graciously agreed, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that I needed to find a way out of this myself. Because there was no real reason I was behind—no family crisis, no visitors, no illnesses. Just my normal routine.

Finally, I settled on my idea and started writing. The story was shaping up, I was feeling confident and about three-quarters done. Then the writer’s worst nightmare happened—less than a week before my posting date, I somehow wrote over my document with something entirely different. And – poof! – like that my hard-fought words were gone. DID I MENTION IT WAS LESS THAN A WEEK FROM MY POSTING DATE!?

When I realized what I’d  done, I wanted to cry. I think I did let out an inhuman-like wail that caused my husband to come running, then pooh-pooh me like it wasn’t a real crisis. (What does HE know anyway?!)

After a frantic search of my computer, I located three or four old versions that I’d somehow had the foresight to save under a different name, so at least I had a foundation. The basic plot hadn’t changed, but a lot of the details had. I remembered enough that I knew it was salvageable, but the clock was ticking.

 

I couldn’t take any time off from the day job, and by the end of the work day my brain is dead, so I did the unthinkable. I sacrificed my morning exercise and promo/email/blog-raading time to work on the story before work. Thankfully I got the story done (although probably with a few glitches I didn’t pick up on in my rush), but in the process, I discovered something amazing.

Writing at 4:25 a.m., when my brain is still half asleep, released the creativity I’d been missing for so  long, but more than that, it rekindled my love of writing. Somehow my brain likes writing before dawn. Who knew?!

I’m a creature of habit, AND the kind of person who likes to get the icky tasks out of the way before I let myself do the fun stuff.  So for several years I’ve been following the same pre-work routine:  get up early, exercise, take care of the  writing “business” stuff, then try to write, then go to the day job. It hasn’t worked. I think by waking myself up with non-creative things, I locked my thinking into that business-like frame, and once there, I couldn’t get it back, even on weekends when I didn’t have to go to work.

Bull-headed, I didn’t quite recognize this about myself until after the first of the year and I’d settled back into that routine. I’d been making slow progress on my WIP, but at the rate I  was going, it would take another year to finish. I knew something had to change.

When  I’d managed to write the holiday story in record  time, I assumed it was the deadline and the thought of having to admit failure that lit the fire, and that was true. It forced me to come up with a solution. Analyzing it after the fact, though, I remembered how good it felt, even under pressure, to put words and sentences together first thing after waking. So I took a leap and rearranged my pre-work routine. For the past couple weeks I’ve been getting up at the same time, then stagger downstairs, get myself a cup of strong tea, and settle down to write. And miraculously, it’s working!

I’m averaging 500-700 words each morning before work, finally making progress on my long-neglected WIP. In fact, I’m having a hard time yanking myself from my laptop to get to the rest of my day. (Back to reality? Nooooooooo!)

On the negative side, the “business” needs are suffering. I’m posting far less frequently on my Facebook page, for example, but I figure hardly anyone was reading it anyway, so no real harm. And once I have this story in production, I can ramp up my efforts.

So if you’re stuck in the writing blues and missing your Muse, maybe try to figure out when you get the most joy from writing and refocus your efforts on that time of the day or place. It can’t hurt to try! And if you're in a place where you're having a tough time finding joy in anything, give yourself time to heal, to recover...to regain your balance. The joy will find you when you're ready.

Happy writing.

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Leah writes stories of mystery and romance, good and evil and the power of love.  Learn more at LeahStJames.com.

Deadlines by Jannine Gallant

Deadlines...do you love them or hate them? For the first time ever, I have a new series contracted, and the books weren't all written when I signed on the dotted line. Four books with firm publishing dates, and I was working on #2 at he time. Kind of scary, but doable. Right?

I had over a year before the final book had to be turned in. I mapped out my word count per day, taking into account things like holidays, and determined I could write a book in six months. Mind you, I have to produce 90,000 words per book. These aren't short, and my average time in the past for a full length novel was eight months. But I was MOTIVATED this time.

So, I set to work and finished #2 right on schedule. Go me! I'd put in a month on #3 and was making steady progress when I suddenly had a horrifying thought. I completely forgot I had to edit books 1,2 & 3 before #4 was due! Yikes, four rounds of editing per book required! I started hyperventilating. When I finally got my breathing under control, I pulled out the calculator and started doing the math... Let's just say 6 months was no longer going to be an option with all that editing time factored into the equation. I upped my daily word count and decided I was just going to have to suck it up and squeeze in writing time over the holidays.

I'm proud to say, I wrote "The End" on book #3 on Dec. 30th. My goal was to finish by the New Year. I wrote that baby in four months. One round of fine-tuning (since I'm an edit as I go writer), and it gets shipped off to my CP. Hopefully my editor will have #1 ready for me to tackle any day now. I'm still on track, even if I have to take the corners a little faster than I'd planned. With a little luck, I'll write #4 and have a day or two to spare before that final deadline.

So, the moral of the story is we can accomplish more than we think when we set our minds to it. The second moral is to not be a lame-brain and forget about all the other requirements on our time besides actual writing. At any rate, my bit of New Year's wisdom is if you believe in yourself, you can make anything happen!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016!

Oh, for those of you who are curious, the new series is called Born To Be Wilde. Romance along with action, adventure, and suspense revolving around the Wilde family.

Wilde One: A cross country treasure hunt may lead to love—if they survive…
Wilde Side: If the rapids on the river don’t kill them—someone else just might…
Wilde Thing: Skiing off a precipice isn’t half as dangerous as witnessing a murder…
Wilde Horses: A film shoot on a Wyoming ranch may be a Hollywood hero’s last call…

For information on all my books, visit my WEBSITE.

Dwell on Your Three Feet of Space by Vonnie Davis

For the past year, I've been writing non-stop to meet contract dates. A few years earlier, I'd write a book, turn the completed manuscript in and wait, hoping someone wanted it. Now, publishers tell me when they want the manuscripts and those dates are put into the contract. In short, we want three books of a minimum of X words from you on these dates for publication on these future dates.

I have two contracts I'm just about wrapping up. I'm on the last book of six. I'm tired. Burned out. A stranger to my family and friends. I literally write eight to ten hours a day, seven days a week, except for one blessed afternoon when Calvin and I go the matinee and out for dinner. The goal is to give my mind a mini-break. Six books in one year. I will never write for two publishers at the same time again. What was I thinking?

I turned in the next to the last book on April 6th. Had a book release party for A Highlander's Passion that released on the 7th. Slept for a day so my mind could rest to make the shift from Scotland and bear-shifters to firemen in Florida. I began the final book on the 9th that is due in my editor's hands on May 11th. Am I in a panic? Yes. Writing a minimum of 75,000 words in a whisper over a month is a feat I keep telling myself I can't do. There have been crying spells. Fits of blues. Migraines.

Then one evening, Calvin and I saw a mountain climber interviewed on PBS. The person putting forth the questions asked when you look at the top of the tallest mountain in the world, don't you have a moment of fear? That you won't make it?

The famed mountain climber replied he never looked at the top. He went on to say something very profound for me--I dwell in my three feet of space. Three feet to my left, right and up. That's all I think about--keeping safe and secure in my three feet of space. I don't focus on making it to the top, just keep moving my three feet of space farther and farther up. Eventually I reach my goal.

Calvin looked at me. "Did you hear that? Stop dwelling on the turn-in date and focus on your three feet of space, even though it'll change every day."

I have a feeling most of you work on such a routine already. I'm kind of slow to learn. Takes a while for things to sink through my unique, thick head. I'm trying my best not to dwell on my submission date. I just keep my head bowed over my keyboard and my fingers moving.

The book? A Pin-Up Fireman. Not the title I chose, but the publisher, HarperImpulse, decided all the titles of the books in the "Wild Heat" series should have the word "fireman" in it.

How do you keep from getting overwhelmed? What's your secret?

Embracing the New and Magical by Donna Michaels

And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings. ~ Meister Eckhart

Seems to be a popular quote this month, and one that’s fitting for me. Like Vonnie, I had a few crazy deadlines last year. The ‘write a book in 3 weeks’ became a reality for me. Three times. Actually, I had 4 weeks for one of those books, then I went right into 2 weeks to revise a novella and lengthen it into a novel, which I turned in the day before I left for a conference. None of the crunching was by choice, but by necessity because of conferences, promo, social media, boxed sets, more promo, blogs, website updates, oh, yeah, and family obligations.

 

Jestina as 'Gloria' in Bye Bye, Birdie

 

There were quite a few this past year. My youngest in her high school productions, graduating from high school, one of my twins graduating college, and my daughter-in-law graduating from law school. Two of my children went off to 2 different colleges. Then there was my father-in-law diagnosed with cancer. Bless him, he was in the hospital for weeks, then a nursing home for months, then finally released to go home on my birthday. ☺ I've been helping to take him to chemo and doctor visits every week, but at least he’s home! Yes, 2014 was a crazy, busy year.

Holy smokes, just reading that makes me nuts. How the heck did I manage it all? Barely. Trust me. It certainly made me realize I need an assistant.

That's me, embracing my something new.

Yes, I am currently looking for an assistant. I know they can’t help me with the family stuff, but an assistant can help with my website, and promo, social media, and even the conferences. Hiring an assistant is scary, but I’m going to be asking my piers for recommendations and hopefully, I’ll find the right fit before I end up in deadline he## again.

So, I will trust the magic of beginnings.

How about you, was 2014 a crazy busy year for you, too? With one activity after another?

Here’s hoping 2015 is a crazy, wonderful year!

One of those boxed sets I mentioned will be releasing next week, Jan 20th, and is available for preorder for only .99¢! I’m honored to be involved in the Cowboy 12 Pack with such wonderful NY Times and USA Best Selling authors!

  

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1H4M25u
Amazon: http://amzn.to/11sGMZb
IBooks: http://bit.ly/1xyPCSu
Nook:  http://bit.ly/1BL0uiS

 

This Rose is A Genetically Unmodified Clutter Bug! It's Not My Fault!

Oh, my – this is organisation month? Nobody asked me about that. In fact, when I read that my dear, talented fellow Roses had put up that note about organisation, I almost fell off my office chair laughing. Indeed, I would hav e fallen off if all the stacks of books, paper and clutter around me hadn't kept me upright.

My shelves are cluttered with self-help books about how to live an organised life. My office floor is cluttered with empty plastic boxes that were supposed to organise my clutter if by some chance it should decide to jump into said boxes itself. The rack under the coffee table has lots of magazines with interesting articles about how to declutter. One of my favourites says to take photos of all the articles that mean something to you but you no longer need. Ha! So tell me, Ms. SmartyPants, just where do I store all those photo albums? Huh?

You see, I'm about a million miles away from being a neat freak Actually, I think it's some kind of genetic thing – I simply did not inherit a cleaning gene. Or a directional gene, for that matter. . Oh, I do have my moments – every now and again I catch up on filing and clear out my various spaces – only to be submitted to comments such as: Oh, look – there's actually a floor in the kitchen! Or Did you know there's a desk in your office under all that paper? And similar stuff that my family actually thinks is humorous. It doesn't exactly inspire me to keep up the good work.

I am organised as far as my writing is concerned - I don't miss deadlines because of clutter, and my Novel Planner Notebooks are a joy to behold!

But the rest of my life - that's another story. Of course, there's always someone to blame. My better half leaves tools all over the kitchen and newspapers all over the family room. Yes, he cleans up – eventually. And it's not unusual for one or another of our offspring to drop by with 'a box' of stuff they need to store for a while. For 'box' read several large containers. For 'a while' read 'forever'. Even the cats leave their toys all over the rugs. 

See, the mess is always someone else's fault.

The sad thing is that I know life is better and easier without clutter. It's just that sometimes I'm so busy with work and writing and family and  cooking and life…well, you know what I mean. I just can't keep up. When we became empty nesters I really had high hopes that the tidy parts of the house – the parts kept for visitors to see – would stay fresh and clean and tidy.

Fat chance.

Speaking of fat, I note that some of the Roses are looking to lose weight this year. Frankly, I can't see why – they're all gorgeous. Still, I admit I could do to lose a pound or twenty. Maybe if I chase around, bending and picking things up, hoisting boxes to the Value Village thrift store, running the vacuum cleaner, all that abs firming polishing and dusting, maybe I could actually make a dent in that, ahem, extra poundage.

Or maybe I'll perch the laptop on the treadmill, using the pain and anguish of that experience to write a bestseller. That's known as killing two birds with one stone. Lose the fat and gain a fabulous advance.

Then I'll hire a cleaner.

Glenys O'Connell is the author of several romance and mystery novels, children's books, award winning plays, and non-fiction works on travel and mental health. And she wonders why she can't keep up with the housework? She shares her large and cluttered home with her long-suffering husband, assorted visiting offspring, several computers, various thirsty houseplants, two exceptionallylazy cats and a variety of dust bunnies.