My apologies, I've been off line most of this week dealing with physical therapy issues. Shoulder is very sore and not happy typing. I'll be a bit sporadic the remainder of the month.
My guest today is romance author, Elisabeth Staab. She talks about how to maintain sanity writing to deadlines and dealing with two young children.
I
started writing King of Darkness; book one of the Chronicles of Yavn series
when my youngest was a newborn. Something to do when the kid was napping, I
said. Easy, I said.
What
began as a hobby became a job when I sold King of Darkness and had deadlines.
Deadlines, and a new child, and geriatric pets, and edits all at the same time.
As
time passed, those babies who napped so beautifully for three hours every afternoon,
turned into toddlers who ran in opposite directions from each other every
chance they got. Oh, and my youngest was a climber (emergency room visits
happened).
Meanwhile,
two secondary characters who’d met in the first chapter of King of Darkness began
to make “You’re hot and I want you but
you’re a jerk but I want you but you’re the wrong species…but I want you”
eyes at each other, in what would be an ongoing dance that would last for three
books.
Now,
I loved Lee and Alexia, and with them dancing there on the perimeter of King of Darkness and then Prince of Power, I thought I had it all
locked down when it came to writing Hunter
by Night.
Except
Lee was a stubborn alpha male with secrets. Alexia was a strong-willed young
woman who wouldn't stand for being disrespected. These two had more baggage
than JFK.
So
my day job, which involved spectacular benefits like unlimited hugs and all
sippy cups I could fill, kept me plenty crazy. Add to that, the bickering,
frustrated characters going back and forth in my head, and the book I kept
writing and re-writing because it wasn't quite
right… I got a little nuts.
So
in order to avoid becoming that person who wears pajamas all day and plays
music on their lips, I did a few things to (try) and stay sane:
·
I brought the funny – laughter releases
endorphins and improves well-being. It wasn't always the best thing for
productivity, but cruising sites like The Bloggess or a few minutes of YouTube
comedy videos really improved a gal’s outlook
·
I Pinterested – Hush now, that is too a
word. Pinterest started out as a place where I would pin my book covers, the
covers of other books I enjoyed, and the occasional attractive man in a suit.
Next thing you know my six year old and I are chuckling at funny cat pictures
and hours have gone by. Okay, Pinterest is a giant black hole, but it’s a giant
black hole of win.
·
I Socially Networked – I’m not saying I’m the
wittest grape in the bunch, but I do love to Tweet. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, it’s mostly strange things
my kids say, manchest, and—of course—pictures of furry things. Sometimes I’m
funny, usually it’s apparent I haven’t yet had enough coffee (or that I've been
talking to short people all day).
·
I called people – I talk to adorable little
Neanderthals all the livelong day. I need big words with syllables sometimes.
Authors can be isolated, and that’s crazy-making. I was lucky to have author
friends to chat with when I needed help with plot issues, or just to vent.
·
I One-Clicked – I convinced my husband last
year that I needed a smartphone in order to improve my level of productivity.
Eff productivity, I needed a smartphone so I could read while standing in line
at the post office. Truth? I probably write to support my book addiction, and
if I stopped buying ebooks tomorrow I would have enough reading material to
sustain me until 2016. Now let’s all enjoy a good chuckle over that notion,
because that’s like telling me to stop buying food.
Luckily,
with these techniques and a lot of coffee, Hunter
by Night got done, and I truly believe it turned out exactly as it needed
to. Maybe it was all the comedy, or maybe it was the characters. Maybe it was
all of the hugs. Who knows? Maybe it was all of the above.
- So what about you? When you need to save your sanity, what do you do?
She wants out
Party girl Alexia
Blackburn is only hanging around the vampire compound until her best friend—the
queen—has her baby. After that, nothing is going to stop Alexia from getting
back to daylight, safety, and feeling like a normal human being. But leaving the
vampire world has one big catch…
He needs her to stay
Head of vampire
security Lee Goram has hated and distrusted humans for centuries. Feeding on
vampire blood has kept him strong…but now it’s killing him—and he’s horrified
to discover that Alexia may hold the key to his cure. He’d rather die defending
his king than admit his weakness, but time is running out for the great vampire
warrior…Excerpt
Elisabeth Staab started hunting mutant hedgehogs back in
1842… Oops, wrong You can find Elisabeth: Website, FB, Goodreads, and Twitter. You can also sign up to receive her Newletter Here.
