I read a post by one of my fellow Story Empire authors about things being seasonal, and it certainly reflects my writing career. I do most of my writing in the winter. I try to do book releases in the Fall, particularly if they have a paranormal angle. I’ve also released some in the Spring. Summer is for family things, and now they’re starting to clash.
This year, the seasons got away from me. Part of this has to do with taking on two books at once. I’ll own that. I need to tackle those beta edits and ship everything to my formatter. I just got the cover art for Yak Guy, and need to start working on it too. I’m trying to finish an ARC read for a friend, but there hasn’t been a lot of time. I’m also falling behind on my RRBC reading obligations.
This weekend, Old What’s Her Face and I are taking a mini vacation. This may seem contradictory to my predicament, but we kind of need this. I can do some research while I’m there, even if it’s just people watching. I’ll update you guys from the road if something cool comes along. I do okay with reading on airplanes, so maybe I can finish that book, and even write a review during a layover. (Optimistic, no?) There are some decent novellas and short story collections on RRBC, and two of my Story Empire friends have some I haven’t read yet. It’s kind of a cheat code, but a shorter work might help me meet my reading obligation.
As soon as we return from our mini vacation, my critique group meets. I only have one submission so far, but maybe I can work it up tonight. I can’t print on an airplane, so I hope the others show up soon.
The following weekend, my parents are coming to visit the puppies. Let’s be honest, that’s the real attraction. We always have a good time, and I understand the appeal of little puppies. The chance to get anything else done is almost nonexistent here.
One weekend after that, I learned yesterday, we have a campground reserved in the heart of morel mushroom territory. That weekend may have some hope, because I could do some things after dark. I don’t need wifi to read, or even to edit. Then again, I may go for a drink beside the campfire and just bag it.
Every spare second is pretty hectic right now. There was a line something like this over the weekend: “You watch the puppies, and I’ll go to the mall and get a second suitcase.”
“It’s only a couple of days. Do we really need a second one?”
“Ours will be packed, and we might want to buy something and need room to bring it home.”
Yeah, it seemed like a good way to avoid spending a bunch of cash on trinkets, but I lost that debate. Then there are all the mundane things that we would normally save for the weekend, picking up enough food so kids and dogs can eat while we’re absent, dry cleaning, choir performances by grandchildren, etc. It’s also medical season. I just had one checkup, and tomorrow I have an eye appointment. I’m going to try to cobble some of those “weekend” errands onto my trip to the eye doctor.
Besides all of this going on, there is sleep deprivation. Frankie and Nyx seem to want to sing the song of their people about 11:30 to midnight every night. They want up in the bed with us, but what they need is to go outside and potty. This requires me to pull on shorts and rush them outside before we have a failure on the carpet. Sometimes I win, sometimes I don’t.
After all these events pass, I hope to be close on The Enhanced League release. Yak Guy will take the next priority. After that, I need to get hopping on a short story for an anthology I was invited to contribute to. Then I need to start thinking about Macabre Macaroni stories for October. They don’t write themselves either, and I enjoy doing them.
So my theory is to do some reading on airplanes, with luck I can get caught up there. When I go camping, I might be able to work on some edits at night. I may have to take some vacation just to work myself out of this hole.
Don’t know what to tell you. Sometimes in life you have to relax. I would get a drink by the campfire and bag it. But that’s just me.
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There will be some down time this weekend, and the one in June. In fact, I may have a drink right now.
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Hope you did. 😀
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I didn’t. Too much going on.
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Drat.
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Take heart. We all have ebbs and flows. Do what you can, and things will take care of themselves.
Enjoy your trip!
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Good points. I should have dragged out my elephant graphic. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
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Stay strong, man. Something about the spring creates a high risk of distractions and delays. Sounds like the weekend trip might be a good way to defrag the mental hard drive too. Even with a heavy workload, it can help to step away and come back stronger. At least I hope you can. Honestly, I’m probably the worst person to give this advice.
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Now that you mention it, we are a lot alike. I should look into writing some of this trip off as research. Even a phone book counts as name research right?
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I say it does. I remember being told that as long as you do some work, you can claim some of it. We definitely run into the same obstacles. Kids and puppies, man. 😛
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Things will all get done eventually. I’ll try to post some pics from the road.
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Good philosophy. Beats my ‘I will get this done regardless of the bodies I leave in my wake!’ idea. 😁
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Don’t spread yourself too thin, mate. Hugs xxx
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That’s exactly what I’ve done here. It will all get finished. I just need to avoid taking on any more right now.
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Enjoy your holiday. It sounds like you need it. Consider going “off grid” for just a day…
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That will happen when we take the camper out. It will be great too.
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I think all writers understand you’re writing when you’re not literally writing. I hope you enjoy your mini vacay 🙂
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It will be fun. I may share snippets if something cool shows up.
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie.
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Enjoy your getaway, Craig… it has been pretty full on so far this year, so a break is essential. Recharges the batteries, so they tell me!
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Thanks for reblogging. I think a break will help to a degree.
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Just do what you can, when you can. In the meantime, enjoy the puppies, and remember to take care of yourself. If you need some down time and have an opportunity to take it, go for it!
We only have one puppy, but last night was still a night of attempting to make it for potty runs (we made it for most of them) and this morning was still one where we quite literally took it in turns to watch the puppy so the other could do something. Most of what I’ve managed to do this morning has happened in the last half an hour (she’s worn herself out, and is taking a nap… Or she was).
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It’s even more fun with two. They don’t always nap at the same time. We’ve been running errands individually so one of us can puppy sit.
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I bet!
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Go for it, Craig! Busy time but some fun on the way too.
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I think the break will be timely, and it should be fun.
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Be like one of those ‘shrooms! Grow and prosper in the dark! 😉
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Thanks, Jan.
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Funny you should mention taking some vacation to work yourself out of the hole. I’ve been thinking I need to do the same.
That said, I’m still thoroughly convinced everyone needs down time and time away with family. Enjoy yourself.
BTW, I like the way your wife thinks regarding the extra suitcase. 🙂
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Ha, I knew that would catch someone. I think we’re going to see some cool things. I’ll share here when I can. I thought someone would bite on my “song of their people” line.
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I hear ya. Life is crazy right now. Hope you get through your backlog. It’s so stressful falling behind.
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I’m that personality type that stresses over these things too.
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Hey, did I tell you I tried my first Guinness? Wow. Delicious. Love the widget inside.
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That freaked me out the first time I came across one. Thought there was a finger in my bottle or something.
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Hahahaha. I bet. Thankfully, I was warned beforehand.
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It’s like the Hamster on the wheel. We never seem to get where we are headed. 🙂 Hang in there!!
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Great way of explaining it.
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A drink around the campfire while reading sounds heavenly. Hope you get some work done, Craig!
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I will, but it might be in small portions for a while.
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Good luck! One thing at a time.
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Well, Craig, you certainly put paid to the theory that men can’t multi task. I am sure you will get it all done.
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I will, eventually. Thanks.
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