Is it even worth talking about?

My wife has to work all weekend. This is usually a prophesy for some quality writing time. We both have Monday off, but I don’t mind that. Some time together is a fine thing.

Our daughter came home for the weekend too. This is an obstacle to any writing I want to do.

I got up early, did my usual social media tour, then started into my project. I always re-read my last chapter before moving ahead. I modified a couple of lines, fixed some typos, that kind of thing.

Then I started writing. Serang and her master decided to take their new boat down the river. Turns out neither of them ever operated a boat before. They have a few things to learn. The purpose is to move to the sea, and the next event. Then again, a bit of familiarity with boats, then ships, is important to who Serang becomes. I kind of want to rush it, but can’t. I have some things I can pepper in to keep it interesting, like river dolphins and such.

Then… my daughter woke up.

It came to 762 words, which poses the question, is it even worth talking about?

We talked about her work, her hair, and even her makeup. Not my favorite topics, but I’ll take what I can get. She brought Jackson the cat this time, and it’s fun having him around. My dogs and Jackson were always buddies and it’s nice to see them rekindling that relationship.

I love her, and won’t trade my time with her for quality writing time. There is always another hour out there somewhere. She isn’t here all that often. She came last weekend, but I had a houseful of people. Quality time wasn’t really available.

Those measly 762 words may be all I get this weekend. I really want to get this one published before school lets out, but let’s face it… it isn’t looking too good. I’ve lost two weekends in a row now. I have two events that have to happen, and can’t just write them. This one has been an epic journey, and I need to dedicate a certain amount of time to travel.

They have to go downstream, then overland where one adventure awaits. After that we have a bit of maturing and changing of the status quo. Then a quick trip leads to the last major adventure. After that I need to devote a bit of time to the denouement.

I can only do what I am allowed to do. I may have some hard decisions to make here. If I have to release it in the summer, I likely won’t spend any money on promotion. My summer releases have always performed poorly, despite the amount of money I’ve thrown at them. What reviews I’ve gathered have always been good, but that new story becomes an old story by the time readers are shopping again.

Holding it for fall isn’t a good option either. I’ve placed one story on the back-burner to focus on this one. Writing two at once turned out to be a wonderful experience. That other story demands an October release. This means any promo money I might have needs to go into the paranormal tale. There is also a matter of time involved. Managing and keeping up with a blog tour and other promos is tough enough, doubling that is not something I’m willing to do.

I’ll take what I can this weekend. If it’s father/daughter time, great. If it’s writing time, that’s great too.