SavageTimes

I know, I know–I cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die promised to start writing more frequently once the kiddos were back in school.  That was August 27, I think, when I made that promise. And here it is, four days short of a full two months later, and….yeah. I haven’t blogged since then.  At least, not unless you can read my mind, because in my head, I’ve been blogging a lot. Of course, in my head I am also a hip-hop dancer, rapper, amazing marathon runner, competitive hanglider, 1940s detective, Pulitzer prize winning photographer, and last but not least, a fabulous cook.

If you ARE in my head, more power to you, because it’s really busy in there.

In the real world, I’ve been very busy, too, and NOT just with daydreaming about all of the above. This time I have several honest-to-goodness legitimate reasons why I haven’t blogged.

1. I’ve been working on this new blog site. D’ya’ like it? It’s still a work in progress. My end-goal is to have separate blogs–one to track my writing life and one for my so-called parenting blog. From the feedback you all have given me, there are definitely two groups out there: one which wants to hear more about what I’m writing, how I’m writing, when it will be available, and excerpts of what I’m working on, and the other group who could care less about my writing and wants me to blog more about life with kids. I can do both–I just need to get there. I also have my own domain name now (marketing, marketing), and just as soon as I remember to ask my IT guy (my husband) to help me, I’ll be porting all my former posts INTO this blog and changing the domain name to a simpler one (so you can remember and tell friends!). It’s really just a matter of getting the tehnical stuff down.

2. I’ve been writing. Monday through Friday, 9-3 for the most part, with exception of Wednesdays when I stop at 145 because the kids have Early Release, I’m WORKING.  And actually making progress.  It’s quite amazing what one can accomplish writing five hours a day (I do stop for food sometimes, and there are a few daydreams in there–I won’t lie).

Am I done yet? Not quite. But I can totally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and provided there are not natural disasters, I am very certain I will be D.O.N.E. by Thanksgiving, and submitting to agents by December 1.  

I’ve had a few setbacks, like several days lost to a really bad bout of food poisoning. And one day given up to help my son’s class tie dye tshirts as part of a morale booster/teamwork kind of thing (it sounds nuts, but it was actually a lot of fun, and I like getting to know all the players in his world). Then there was most of this last week, where I spent trying to write one damn chapter, trying to ignore the fact that I couldn’t write it and trying to write around it, and then, last night, while I was reading Magic TreeHouse #656 (that’s not really the number, but there are so many, and I lose track) to my daughter and simultaneously paying attention to my son in his karate lesson, the angels sang and I realized I didn’t need this chapter at all.

Another more accomplished writer might have figured this out in an hour instead of over a period of several days. But there you go–now you know why it’s taking me so long (well, one reason; reasons two, three and four are ages 7, 10 1/2 and 45). I do feel OK about my subsequent time-suck of self-pity after I realized I wasted a week trying to write something I didn’t need: I have it on good authority from other writers–some of whom are more accomplished–that we writers often sink into time-sucks of self-pity for the smallest reasons. And, to my credit, my bout with self-pity this time around only lasted half a day, and I didn’t even need to resort to alcohol or cake to feel better.

I won’t make any more promises to write more consistently. I will try my bestest best, as my daughter says. But I’ll be honest: you can help me out, if you really want to hear from me.

Leave comments, message me, Facebook me, Tweet me (@savagewriter01)….tell me you want to hear from me.

I’m may not be the greatest with promises, but I can honor reminders and requests.