I Miss Writing! by Alison Henderson

Our theme this month is March Madness, and some days I do feel I'm going mad--for a number of reasons. First, of course, is the BIG MOVE. After 24 years, we're leaving Minnesota for good in two weeks. I won't even start on the length of my to-do list on both ends.

But I think another reason I'm feeling on edge is that fact that I haven't written anything new--except for blog posts--in months. My latest release, The Treasure of Como Bluff, came out in December, and I poured all my writing energy into an extensive blog tour to introduce it to readers. Around the same time, my father's health took a serious turn for the worse. We were told his condition was terminal and that he could go at any time. Due to his strong constitution and even stronger will, it took thirteen weeks for Parkinson's Disease to win the final battle. During that time, romance fiction was the last thing on my mind. Also, in the past three months, I have made five trips out of town, and travel is always disruptive.

I wish I were one of those writers who can write no matter what, no matter where--but I'm not. I shake my head in wonder when a successful author advises tucking your writing into every fifteen minute opening in your schedule. If I only had fifteen minutes, I wouldn't be able to do more than stare at my blank screen, fingers frozen. I need to know I have a decent amount of uninterrupted time before the creative juices can begin to flow. 

And it's not that I don't have projects clamoring for my attention. I have a humorous contemporary bodyguard book completed and awaiting a final edit before it becomes my springboard into the wacky world of self-publishing. I've been holding off because I'm really excited about the whole venture and want to give it my best effort. That simply hasn't been possible lately. I also want to expand the short story I wrote for the Roses of Prose holiday anthology in 2012 into a novella (maybe even a full-length novel) in time for next Christmas. 

I know my life isn't going to become simpler any time soon, but sometime in April...I swear...I'm going to start writing again. I can't wait!

Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com
http://alisonhenderson.blogspot.com 

The Maddest March Ever by Alison Henderson

What does March Madness mean to me? Well, it doesn’t mean basketball, that’s for sure. I’ve been an anti-fan of basketball since junior high school gym class. Too much back and forth, back and forth. Gave me a headache then, and I’ve never developed a taste for the sport in the intervening years.

No. The cause of my maddest March ever isn’t basketball, it’s real estate. Last month, we made an offer on a new house in Carmel, CA, so we can escape the brutality of Minnesota winters, and I’m up to my pointy little ears in the details necessary to make that purchase happen. We bought the house before selling our home in Minnesota because we needed to know where we would be living in order to know what to bring with us. Also, we happened across an affordable house in the perfect location and had to act fast.

A couple of weeks later, we were lucky enough to sell our Minnesota house for more than we expected without ever putting it on the market. Yippee! Unfortunately, there is a gap of about three weeks between the date we have to close on our new house and the date we’re scheduled to close on our current house. The banking crisis that accompanied the Great Recession apparently rang the death knoll for the entire concept of the bridge loan or swing loan, so I’ve been beating my head against the wall putting things in place to make the transaction work. I think I’ve got it licked, but the whole situation has magnified my love/hate relationship with money. I’ll breathe a huge sigh of relief when the entire thing is wrapped up and we’ve made the move.

So, if you want to see a shining example of March Madness, just stop by my house. I’ll be swinging from the trees any day now!

Alison

www.alisonhenderson.com

http://alisonhenderson.blogspot.com