How Do You Do It?

Happy Wednesday All,

Whew. I'm tired, are you? For one thing, Texas is back to yucky weather. Luckily it's not supposed to be as bad as a week ago, but it certainly wasn't fun to be woken at 4:30 a.m. with a Tornado Warning.

Now, I appreciate the National Weather Service (NWS) doing its best to keep people safe. In fact, I'm grateful, and I respect what they're doing. Honestly, I do. What I don't like is the fact that after being woken at 4:30 a.m. (when I finally was able to sleep after dealing with Youngest waking up every 1-2 hours because Youngest is going through a rough patch right now--something all people go through and it's not dangerous, just hard) is that I couldn't go back to sleep for the longest time! I finally conked out

around 6ish, I think. Only to wake up again around 6:30 or so. Then I went back to sleep until Youngest decided that at 7:27 a.m. sleep was a rotten idea, and it was time to get up (this was after Youngest had been a little restless here and there).

Now I've been in the very little/no sleep position as a Mom before. This is NOT my first sleep deprivation rodeo. However, it's not any easier than any other time. In fact, any time it happens is harder than before because I'm older now than I was before. (That's the funny thing about the years passing, huh? You get older!)

Does sleep deprivation kill the writing side of my life--the creativity? Sometimes. Not always. It really depends on where I am

in a story or what's going on. Currently the incredibly talented and awesome Stacy Hoff is looking over one of my WIPs (Works In Progress) so I'm not really working on it too diligently. My husband teases me because I've been working a little on several stories at once. He thinks I need to focus on one story at a time. He might be right, but I figure if I have an idea for something, get it written so that I can focus. 

In fact, I got an idea for one story that I'll be implementing while I'm waiting for Stacy's comments. (Speaking of which, Stacy's novels are fun and imaginative, I urge you to check them out. Particularly her Desire series. The television network in her stories is just itching for lawsuits! LOL).

A lot of people ask me "How do you do it?" I write whenever I can grab a minute--or whenever Real Life Hero (my husband) takes the

Offspring and I have a flash of inspiration. I think about my stories and work almost all the time. Laying in bed at night, I'll contemplate scenes before falling asleep.

When writing is what you want to do--really want to do--you find a way. I've learned that whatever you have a passion for you will make time to do. As a mom, I have a responsibility to my Offspring to be Mom to them. I love them, and want to provide for them. So, I find ways of doing it. I love to read, so I find time to do that, too--even if that means reading off my E-reader apps on my phone. You have to be flexible. But if I didn't have the passion

for these things, I don't think I'd make the time. It's not easy and if you're doing one thing other things will suffer (like housework) but you have to find a balance (if you can, sometimes you don't find a good balance, but you have to do your best)--and sometimes you just have to accept the bad with the good. Some days are good, some are bad. I think that's what any mom or person goes through with whatever they do. I don't think it's exclusive to Moms/Dads who are writers. Based on what I've seen/heard, it's just life.

Anyway, I hope your week is going well and if you're in Texas, stay dry!

If you cross paths with Stacy Hoff, tell her I said hi. :-)

Have A Wondrously Whimsical Wednesday!

Who Took My Sleep?

Good morning!

If anybody's seen my sleep, please let me know. I'd like to have it back. I miss it. I promise to treat it well and respect it. I promise to never take it for granted ever again. Somehow or another my body thought it was a great idea to wake up several times last night. (I think it's plotting against me).

In other news I've managed to find the fun in Pierre and Delaney's relationship and so that's going smoother. I was actually happy to start Chapter 8 last night. I pushed through the part I wasn't sure of to get to a part I am sure about. I figure I can go back and rewrite the parts that I don't think are as good to make them better. I'm not afraid of rewriting things that need it--I've been known to delete over 30 pages. I figure rewriting is probably slightly easier because by then I would be more acquainted with the story and know more of where it was going. In any case it was fun having Pierre tease Delaney. He's quite good at it.

I have another parody that I wrote for my friend Les and his friend Bob called The Adventures of Super Les and His Sidekick Bob (What is it about my British friends that makes putting them in a parody so much fun?) I don't know Bob, but he's a friend of Les's and wanted me to write him a parody. I wrestled with the idea before finally deciding to stick Les in there so they could interact...then I thought it would be fun to make them super heroes! In any case, that one made Les laugh harder than Because Of The Pie. So I'm going to have to ask the if they don't mind if I post it up here. I think you all would find it funny, too. I found myself chuckling when I wrote it. More ridiculousness, except worse since the bad guy has an argument with the damsel in distress over the real identity of Super Les and Bob's super-hero gun is broken. Talk about chaos!

I do write serious stuff--as my story figuring Pierre and Delaney and their relationship proves, but sometimes I like to write something funny just to relax and give myself a good laugh. It helps keep the creative juices flowing.

Anyway...

Have a "Wascally" Wednesday! (Elmer Fud anyone? LOL)