The Struggle is Real Week 8: When Life Hits Back

 

It’s been nearly two weeks since my last post. Did anyone notice I was missing?

 

But I have good news/bad news.  The good news. I wrote.  Finally.  The scene that had been in my head for well over a week.  It poured onto the page and it felt really good to get it out there. 

 

The bad news? Well pretty much everything since than has been downhill. First I was under the weather—not a bad bug, but enough to make me tired and run down and cranky.  And  enough to know I needed to rest when and where I could.  I don’t know about you, but since hitting my –ahem—"over 50s”, I have found if I don’t rest when I am sick it takes a lot longer to get well.  Gone are the glory days of my 20s and 30s where I could just down some Ibuprofen, chug some coffee and keep up the same pace, knowing I’d feel better in a day or two.  That ended some time in my 40s.

 

Then at the beginning of this week, just days after I was starting to feel better, FIL had a heart attack.  If you are regular readers, you probably know I am one of his caregivers.  But suddenly some things that were only in the “idea” stages had to happen –and fast.  We’d talked about setting up a downstairs bedroom for him, but it was still in the "just talking" stages.  And then suddenly it had to happen now.  We weren’t sure when they would send him home, but since hospital stays these days are pretty brief, we assumed it needed to be ASAP.  With the help of good friends and everyone pitching in, it got done in an afternoon.  We are still in the process of moving his clothes and toiletries etc downstairs and figuring out where everything will go, but the hard part is done at least.

 

So not a lot of time to write since that one lovely afternoon of writing bliss. 

 

But like I always say, I have not given up yet. 

The Struggle is Real Week 6: Oops, I Did it Again

 

Did you ever play Dodge Ball?  I won’t say I have fond memories of it. I was pretty good at the “dodging” aspect but throwing and actually hitting something wasn’t in my skill set.  So yep, I was one of those always chosen last.

Anyway, some weeks it feels like I am back there in Miss Teeboone’s gym class at Virgil I Grissom elementary school dodging those flying balls.  Some weeks life flings stuff your way with all the aggression of a pre-pubescent boy who is still angry you beat him in last week’s spelling bee.  

Yes, that’s where I have been.  Dodging all sorts of missiles, or so it seems.  Bills-still sorting out the issue with FILs electricity bill. Caregiving--some weeks are just "those" weeks.  Family--always something, let's just leave it at that.  Puppy training, aka exhausting myself so hyper puppy will be less hyper LOL.  And work.  Lots and lots of work.  As I have said before, some weeks ya gotta go where the money is.  So that, unfortunately, has had to be my main focus.  

I did manage to eek in a few piddly writing moments, just to touch base with my characters once or twice.  But once again I did not meet the daily goal I had set for myself, even though it was fairly small. 

Is it just me, or did 2023 come in like a tidal wave?  It just hasn’t let up even once.  And it has yet to allow me to come up for air. 

I guess if it was easy we wouldn’t call it “pushing yourself”.  But I am not giving up.  Writing has been my balm, my comfort, my therapy for far too many years for me to let life keep pushing it out of my reach.  

But, my friends, the struggle is real.  

And it continues.  

Leave me a comment either here or on FB to let me know how you did this week.

 

The Struggle is Real Week 3: Crash. Burn.

 

Well, this past week saw me crash and burn with regard to touching base with my story every day.

 

What happened?

 

Life.

 

First an unexpected appointment.  Nothing serious, just something I had not planned my schedule around that day.  

The next day it was arguing with the power company over a $900 utility bill my FIL got in the mail.  The man has one TV and a couple of lamps he uses for a few hours each day.  He is old school Italian and will turn a light off in a room while you are still in it.  I don’t think he uses that much electricity in a year, let alone a month.  Turns out I was right, but it still took a full day and a half and 12—I kid you not—12 phone calls to get it all sorted out.  Such is the life of a caregiver. 

 

Weather.  I’m a migraine sufferer.  Not the whiny kind who uses the word “migraine” as an excuse to take to her bed and retreat from life.  The kind that powers through no matter how bad they are, but on the really bad days, knows when it is time to quit.  Well by the time I was able to quit, it was bedtime and I was not about to go sit at my desk and write.  Nope.  Just not happenin’.  Thank God by the next morning things were better but the roller coaster temperatures of this mild winter have not been kind to my head.

 

Then came the day when I just plain forgot!  Yep.  Got busy and forgot all about it.  I have been working a couple of hours in the evening each week to try to stay on top of my daily work and just as I was gratefully switching off the bedside lamp to go to sleep –oopsie.  I forgot to write today.

So I definitely sat at my desk and made up all this missed time over the weekend, right?  

Right???

Nope.  I worked a lot and by the time I was done for the day writing was not on the radar.  I hate that I let myself--and my characters--down but it is what it is.  Sometimes you just have to do what will pay the bills.  

And while it's true I veered off course this week, I am not done yet.  I am going to right the ship, turn this bus around, get myself back on track, place the gerbil back on the wheel etc and do better over the next seven days.  Stay tuned.

 

So how was your week? Did you hit your writing goals?  Or like me, did Live have other ideas?

 

Wednesday on Writing: Things I wish I'd said

 

Wednesday on Writing: New writing series coming soon!

 Because I have been in and around the publishing industry for so long  (uh we are talking 35+ years, people.  Which, of course, means I started in the womb! LOL) I am often asked to share some of what I have learned along the way.  Not just as a prepubbed author and a published author, but as many of you know, I also work in the publishing industry as an editor and have done freelance editing as well.  So... there's a lot of clutter rattling around the cobwebs in my brain and sometimes I think it might be nice to clean house, give some of this info away.

Stay tuned here each Wednesday as I talk not just about the nuts and bolts of writing but the how-to's of the publishing world.  How to get an editor's attention --both good and bad.  Sort of a do-this- not-that series.  

So leave me your questions below and I will do my best to address them in the series.

Til then, 

Happy Hump Day!

Nic

Friday Friends: Kim Turner with Wylder Hearts

Available December 2, 2020!

 Caleb Holt is the man to see for a good horse. Abuse an animal and he'll teach the lesson that goes with it. When he lands on top of a woman in the midst of a brawl and snags a passionate kiss, he sparks a fire he never expected. But it doesn't take the cowboy long to learn a lesson of his own… sometimes love comes with a price. 

Seamstress Laurel Adams is embarrassed by Caleb's stolen kiss. Though she is determined to raise her son alone, she wonders at the ease of falling for the handsome horseman. But when the husband who abandoned her returns, there is only one choice to make—the one that breaks her heart into tiny pieces.

                                                                         ~*~
  

The businessman bolted forward and swung a fist that made contact with his chin, leaving him off balance and staggering backward. Trying to avoid the crowd that had collected, he bobbled and went down, expecting to hit the ground. But the impact never came. Instead he landed softly to a shrill feminine scream, and the greenest eyes he’d ever beheld.

Time simply froze, the world around him a haze as he found himself mesmerized by the beauty of the woman beneath him. It had been a damn long time since he was in such a position as this.

Unable to move with the crowd about them, he apologized, allowing a slight smile to curl his lips, though he knew he should get back to the fight. He reached to tip his hat and realized he’d lost it. The feel of her bosom pressed between them stirred up a thing or two. “Beggin’ your pardon, ma’am.”

“I’m quite all right.” She pushed to rise, but the crowd surrounding them was thick.

“Actually, I was apologizing for this.” Caleb bent to kiss her, slow and searing, her lips plump and tender, holding him there a moment longer than needed. He held her surprised green-eyed gaze a moment more and then he was back to the fight.

Wylder Hearts will be released on December 2, 2020.  Pre-order here. For more information on Kim's other books visit her website or blog 

Kim Turner writes western historical romance, and discovered her passion of writing at the age of eight by writing poems, short stories and journals. Kim graduated from Clayton State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing and holds a Master’s Degree in Adult Education from Central Michigan University. Working as a registered nurse Educator/Quality Analyst for over twenty-seven years, she enjoys studying the medical treatments of the old west as well as keeping up with the latest western movies and television. While she loves reading anything from highlanders to pirates, she claims to have an unquenchable thirst for the American Cowboy when choosing her reads. Kim lives south of Atlanta with her husband and calls her greatest accomplishment the birth of one daughter and the adoption of another from China-neither of which came easy. Kim is a member of Romance Writers of American and Georgia Romance Writers and calls her critique group from Southside Scribes the best thing that ever happened to her writing, that and a pretty wonderful group of beta readers. Kim’s debut novel SAWYER’S ROSE was a 2014 Maggie Finalist and a 2015 Golden Heart Finalist!

Kim’s Motto: It’s All About A Cowboy and the Woman He Loves.

Interview with Regan Taylor

Well I did it. After spending the day being nauseous and nervous, I did it.

I talked to Regan Taylor of Talking Romance. And lo and behold, I had fun! Regan is a wonderful interviewer, she put me right at ease and cliché as it sounds, it felt like we were just two old friends enjoying a chat on the phone. Never mind the potential for thousands of others listening in, LOL. There were a couple of places where maybe I could have said more or where we both paused and maybe I giggled too much, but I felt good about it afterward.

Afterward of course, came the “shoulda coulda’s.” At one point Regan asked me about my guilty pleasures, what I read in my down time. I rattled off the list of authors on my keeper shelf: Maggie Osborne; Jodi Thomas; Linda Lael Miller; Johanna Lindsey; Pamela Morsi. Then we started chatting about e-publishing and e-readers and I meant to come back and name some of the TWRP authors and other e-pubbed authors I’ve come to enjoy (Paty Jager; Carol Spradling; Leanne Tyler; Ashley Ladd; Sarita Leone) But as conversations do, we veered onto something else and I missed my chance to promo some of my favorite authors you may not have heard of.

Then later we were talking about what I have in the works and I was so focused on my historical offerings I totally forgot to mention Sons of Summerville, the contemporary anthology I’m working on with three other TWRP authors.

But the bottom line: I had a great time and look forward to talking to Regan again soon. I’m also going to try and listen to her show more often, it’s at an odd time of day for me (Sunday afternoons at 5 pm EST) but once we get into summer vacation, that won’t be such a busy time of day.

Meanwhile, if you want to listen to me giggle and stumble over my tongue and probably sound pretty darn foolish overall, click here. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ReganTaylor/va/2008/06/08/talking-romance-with-regan-and-faith-from-the-wild-rose-press. Don’t mind the name, my friend Faith was kind enough to swap dates with me since my last interview didn’t work out.

Til next time!

Nic

BLP's

BLP. That's an acronym a friend of mine and I use. It's short for Best Laid Plans. As in, I tried to find time to write today but this or that happened ... BLP.

Well I've had about a week's worth of them.

The kind where, you force yourself to get to bed at a reasonable hour, set your alarm for a bit earlier than usual because, doggone it, you're going to get up early tomorrow and get on top of your workload. Yeah! Because you really need more time to write. Then, in the middle of the night you hear the small, pitiful call "Mama!" You know the one -- the cry of a sick child. Ayep. That was my youngest. With a fever of 103.8. For two days. Then it hovered in the low-grade temp range. For a week.

Of course by then his brother had it.

And then came last Friday night, when, after a week of caring for sick kids and running around like a mad woman buying medicines and cooking chicken soup, I joyfully hit the sheets early. I was soooo tired. I woke up at four a.m. with my head spinning and though whoa-- how much did I have to drink last night, anyway? Then I realized... not a drop. It felt like a hangover but was much worse. Cut to mom spending the weekend on the couch running a similar fever. (Which really freaks my family out, btw. They stand there, staring at me with that "what do we do now?" expression. Who will cook our food? Launder our clothes? Tell us when it's time for bed? How can we function if mom is sick???)

Well the kids are on the mend. My oldest went back to school today. I'm still sniffling and coughing, but my throat isn't quite as sore today and there's real hope I might actually get some sleep tonight (as long as I prop myself up on pillows and take some Benadryl). But the dh seems to be coming down with it. Still, the thought of both kids being back to school tomorrow cheers me. So even if the Big Kid Himself is home sick, I should have at least a bit of mental health time, and I plan to spend it writing. After all I have a WIP to finish.

But isn't it funny, just when I got back into the swing of things -- just when I was excited again, that this happened. And to think I was actually looking forward to school starting up again!

That's a BLP if ever I saw one.

You Can't Go Back... but you can try!

I did something yesterday I haven't done in a loooong time. Have you ever done that? Tried to recapture the fun, the spirit of the things you did B.K.? (before kids!)

My husband and I used to attend a lot of civil war re-enactments in our dating days. I loved them and in the days before I even met my dh, I had half a mind to join the re-enactors. But thought the mind was willing, the bank account was not, LOL.

But there was a time we'd attend and spend the day, browsing the sutler tents, finding unique and interesting things. We'd bring grapes and cheese and wine (non-alcoholic, of course) and spread our picnic blanket on the ground and enjoy the battle with not a care in the world.

Flash forward ahead ten years! My oldest son was sulking because I wouldn't let him spend $17 on a plastic cap gun. The youngest was mostly interested in the drinking fountains and restrooms and I didn't get a chance to look at anything for longer than a split second or talk to anyone.

But some things never change. Once we were seated and the battle began, the boom of the cannons and the sight of the men fighting and falling caused a surge of excitement that I'd practically forgotten about. I really wanted my kids to enjoy it, and they seemed to take an interest, but it may take a few years to really spark anything in them. The battle was just building to a climax -- they weren't reenacting a specific battle, just an overall "this is how it would have been done" battle for show, so I wasn't sure who would be victorious. There were a lot of Confederate soldiers down and the Union side still had plenty of fire left, but the rebs just kept advancing. That's when my four-year-old grabbed himself and announced-- loudly-- that he needed to go potty. Naturally the dh didn't offer to take him -- heck, he didn't want to miss anything! By the time we got back to the restroom--after stopping at every outdoor fountain along the way (there were three!)-- I could hear the sounds of cheers and applause and realized the battle was over.

By then my oldest son was hot, bored and ready to go home. The dh was muttering about needing to do stuff at home, and I realized I still had no idea what was for dinner, so we headed for home.

Sigh. Such is the life of a mom, writer or not! So I learned that you can't go back to the way things used to be, but you can find some of the old excitement now and again!

Pardon the picture, btw. My digital camera is pretty outdated and I don't have the pics from my regular camera back yet. This was the best one I could come up with.

The kindness of strangers

Has the kindness of a stranger ever taken you by complete surprise? Whether it's someone holding a door open for you, handing you a dollar when you came up short for a cup of coffee -- anything.

My life was touched like that today. A good friend, whom I'd be lost without, helped me put this blog together on a whim. I'm not the most technically savvy cookie in the box, and have a hard time juggling things I "want" to do with things I actually "have time" to do. I was really touched by her willingness to help, but not surprised, because that's the kind of person she is. And when she asked a friend of hers to help with some of the design and her friend agreed -- well, that was the kindness that took me by surprise and left me blinking back tears. Her friend doesn't know me from a hill of beans. Yet because she's a friend of my friend, she was happy to share her expertise and help me out. Wow. What a great feeling.

That's exactly the kind of thing I've noticed in the writing community -- pretty much from day one, and I've been a member of RWA since the late 80s (Yes, I'm an old dinosaur -- and proud of it!). I don't' know what it is about writers, but we're always happy to help out a sister writer. Or as RWA used to say it, we actively train the competition. And we do!

Anyway, I decided that would be the topic for my first blog. Kindness.

Thanks, Darah. Thanks Lora. I'm forever in your debt. And I'll be sure to repay your kindnesses to a fellow writer as soon as fate presents the opportunity.