319 Days till October 1, 2017

Ok, so I said I would post every day of what is it like to be an author, writer, whatever, but there are days where I just don't have the time or the energy to write anything! For example, last night, after we ate our dinner, my husband and I, we took a nap...a LONG nap. In fact, we didn't wake up until 8:00p.m.

I had a busy weekend. Saturday took my granddaughter to Shipshewana, Indiana and we didn't get back until 9p.m. then Sunday, we had a craft show, which I sold my books and was very successful, but I wasn't feeling good, so when we got home around 4:00p.m. I just slept!

So, as you can see, there are days when writing just isn't going to happen. Tonight, I won't be doing any writing because I have a puppy and we go to our second day of behavior training. I won't get home until 8:30p.m. and then I have to design 17 headbands for a basketball team for work. Yes, I work at a middle school.

I will try my best to keep the posts coming on a daily basis, but as you can see, working a full-time job and keeping up house along with other things, it's hard to find the time to write.

Day Two...The Beginning

Chapter one is well underway! I've got seven pages done, which is the most I've ever written on a single chapter and I'm not done yet! My muse is getting into this new storyline, though she knows I want to take my time on it as I never, ever organize my thoughts, plots, characters, settings, scenes, etc. when I begin to write, I just write. Hasn't failed me yet.

I'm one of those types who dives right in and with my music playing on Pandora, my muse gets busy with ideas, thoughts, and whatever else it comes up with. We are well connected.

It brings me to the thought of a story I read in my Women Writers class, A Room of One's Own, by Virginia Woolf. She goes on to tell that a woman must have money and a room of her own if she wishes to write fiction. She continues to say, "Intellectual freedom depends upon material things. Poetry depends upon intellectual freedom. And women have always been poor, not for two hundred years merely, but from the beginning of time . . .” She says, "She believes that the writing of novels lends itself more easily to frequent starts and stops, so women are more likely to write novels than poetry: women must contend with frequent interruptions because they are so often deprived of a room of their own in which to write. Without money, the narrator implies, women will remain in second place to their creative male counterparts. The financial discrepancy between men and women at the time of Woolf’s writing perpetuated the myth that women were less successful writers.

In a Room of One's Own, Woolf goes on to say, "The central point of A Room of One’s Own is that every woman needs a room of her own—something men are able to enjoy without question. A room of her own would provide a woman with the time and the space to engage in uninterrupted writing time. During Woolf’s time, women rarely enjoyed these luxuries. They remained elusive to women, and, as a result, their art suffered. But Woolf is concerned with more than just the room itself. She uses the room as a symbol for many larger issues, such as privacy, leisure time, and financial independence, each of which is an essential component of the countless inequalities between men and women. 

So, my point being is that here I am, in a room, that is not my own, but that I share with my husband. I am interrupted continually either my husband wants me for something, or the dog needs tending to, or I have dishes that are screaming for attention, don't get me started on the never ending laundry.

But with all these interruptions, I have managed to publish six books, illustrate two of them, and am now working on book seven. Yes, my house looks like a tornado hit it, but I have achieved my goal...a book, to which I can call my own.

325 days till October 1, 2017

Day One...A novel in progress

Well, this is a first for me...blogging my way while I write my eighth novel. I would like to get it done by October, so that will be my goal, October 1st!  I thought it would be interesting for those of you who always wanted to write to see what a writer goes through. The trials and tribulations of good days when writing is a breeze, to days when you want to punch your monitor screen and scream. Yes, it happens and more than you think.

Writing, that's the easy part, the hard part is when you start to get into the nitty gritty, and then the edits! Oh, the joy of editing. The King of nerve and hair pulling is formatting. Just when you think everything is in its place, it's not and you have to re-submit...not once but SEVERAL times. I kid you not! It's a bloody pain in the butt!

So, the book I am about to start is called Elspeth. It's about a young girl, who resides in Dornoch, Scotland. She is of the age to learn about being a Green Witch. Her mother is a witch and starts to teach her, her craft, but soon discovers that Elspeth's magick is coming out faster than she can handle and worries that she will be found out. It's in the 1700s, a time when in other glens, the threat of witchery and deceit is starting to spread. Elspeth's mother, fearful for her daughter, keeps her close,
but even then, that proves fatal.

My posts will not always be cheerful, you may see some frustration and a few )*&*^%F*&*)#(&*& as well, but be assured, my book will get done and you all will be the first to receive the word and first to receive your very own copy.

COUNTDOWN TO OCTOBER 1st: 326