I have no idea why I named this post “Weathering the Storm”…I think it just sounded cool.
Anyway, in all fairness, that’s what I feel life is like at the moment. I’ve been trying for balance from the second I published Caged, but, nearly ten months later, I still haven’t achieved it. Most of you know that I run a health care office with my husband, and that we also have a toddler. They both consume a lot of my time and energy (in a good way), but that doesn’t leave a lot to channel toward writing, editing, marketing, etc. My friends think I’m superwoman, and, maybe I am, but I don’t feel like it. I feel tired 🙂 I’ve put a lot of thought into how to remedy this situation and I think I may have found a way to help, at least for now.
I have an amazing husband who has always believed in my crazy ideas, like: let’s but a century old home and remodel it ourselves, or I’m going to publish a book, or I’m going to die my blonde hair CRAZY dark before our wedding… He’s a patient soul 🙂 We’ve been trying to come up with ways to free up my time so that I can better balance my two careers without cutting into my family life. The solution we’ve come up with is me taking an afternoon off of the practice. Yes, a WHOLE four hours of uninterrupted writing time! I have yet to implement this change, but it’s going to be put into action soon. Very soon.
Now, what does this mean for you? I have no clue, but it should mean more solid release dates and a better mapped out release schedule in the long run. I’m aiming for 3 novels a year with a novella in there too. Ambitious? Yes. Doable? Of course…I’m a type A. I can do ANYTHING if someone tells me I can’t! (Can someone please tell me I can’t lose five pounds? Please?)
So, I look forward to wearing my author hat with more consistency and getting a feel for whether or not it’s something I could don for years to come. I really love writing, but, if I can’t find a way to seamlessly integrate it into my life, I fear I will burn out from the stress. I don’t want that any more than you do. I have stories to tell, crazies to get out of my head, and supernatural worlds to explore.
Let’s hope this half-day off is enough to make this all happen 🙂