When Life Gets In the Way

Do you have those days when you wonder if you'll manage to get anything useful done? Or is just me? Last week, my Wednesday-Saturday gave me this feeling of too many errands, not enough time, leaving me to ponder whether 2021 wants to outdo 2020.

Luckily for me, one positive surfaced in those few days. My publisher sent me the cover art for THE WATCHERS IN EXILE. It's beautiful, isn't it? Many thanks to Jake Clark of J Caleb Design for once again providing an amazing cover for my book.

Here's the front cover:

Thank goodness for blessings, no matter how simple they may be.

I needed it more than anything because I wasn't managing to get any real writing done. Not because I couldn't think of what to write. No, that wasn't it. I couldn't find the time to write. If you've read any articles or books about writing, you'll know they abound with advice, but almost all of them include this one:

No matter how many words you write, you should write each day.

It's great advice, especially for people just getting started. For me, I've never found it useful. There are some days when I can hide away in my office and knock out thousands of words in a story. I managed to write book 3 of THE WATCHERS OF MONIAH trilogy in 3.5 months, and it's close to 116,000 words. You do the math.

Realistically, there are more days when I manage a few hundred words. Then there are days like last week when Not. A. Word. Gets. Written.

Rather than beat myself up over it, I continue to plan and focus on what's next. I'm not saying I haven't written anything in the past two weeks. I have. Just not a lot. (I am counting this post in my word count, by the way.)

What happened? I bounced between insurance, rental car agencies, and body shops trying to iron out details to get my car fixed after someone hit it, crawled under the house three times to give our plumber measurements so he could tell me water heaters are on backorder (ours is leaking), tried to get the shattered screen of my iPad fixed (still waiting) after one of the grands dropped a phone on it, took time off to take a sick child to the doctor, went in for blood work for my upcoming physical, almost missed the deadline for a school application for one of the grands, helped the same grand prepare for an audition interview for art school, and then some.

I'm trying to see these as minor hurdles that just happened to gang up on me. I know many of you have it worse, and I have little room to complain.

If this feels familiar, here's my advice, for what it's worth:

Move forward at whatever pace you can. It may be baby steps; it may be giant steps. If you're a writer, go read a book or keep a notepad nearby to jot notes down for when you do have time to write. If you're a reader, find a book and disappear into another world for awhile, even if it's just a few minutes. It will help.

And so, I draw to a close today with gentle reminders that THE WATCHERS OF MONIAH is now available in print and e-book on Amazon and from Fiction Addiction in Greenville, SC. THE WATCHERS IN EXILE will be available on January 25. I, also, have some virtual events coming up later this month and next month. The best way to not miss out on any of this information is to sign up for my newsletter. All subscribers receive a free photograph of a baby giraffe and become eligible for upcoming prizes and giveaways.

I am truly blessed to have my books published and very thankful for every single person who reads them or shares them with others. Thank you!