Tuesday, September 16, 2014

A Novel Update

My personal goal for publishing my current suspense novel was mid-September, however, just when things were getting down to the wire, I got bombarded with a slew of more urgent tasks.  That's par for the course in my life.  So, the release of my novel will be delayed by a few weeks.  I've been receiving emails from people asking about it, so I thought I may as well write a post to put everyone in the loop.

I went out of town for one weekend and when I returned, I found that my To Do List had doubled in size.  I was going to put everything on the back burner until I finished publishing the novel, but then I woke up this morning to find a horse with a mysterious leg injury, and I knew that obtaining enough normalcy to complete this project was hopeless.  Right now I just need to take some pressure off of myself and attempt to tackle one problem at a time.

We've also got yet another big storm on the way, which means more work for me and not being able to follow a schedule since my activities are dependent upon the weather conditions.  I can't be outside when lightning is striking, and getting around in flood waters and mud is a laborious task.  I've been frantically trying to complete some outdoor home improvement tasks before the wind, rain, and flooding can ruin them.

I also was unfortunate enough to have a bunch of maintenance appointments all fall in the same small window of time.  I have to see two different doctors if I want refills for my prescriptions, and so does the dog.  Concurrently, the horses are due for hoof trims, I need a new prescription for glasses, and my hair is getting so long and unmanageable that I need to make a trip to the salon.  Everything always has to happen all at once, because spreading it out would be just too easy.  (Insert sarcasm here).

I had plans to sign up for some college classes this fall, but may have to skip that effort since I can barely maintain control of my schedule right now.  This seems to be the week of unexpected challenges, and I know from experience that when I suffer through an onslaught of unwanted demands like I am now, it usually takes months to recover and get back into a routine where I can actually choose how I want to spend my time.

I wish I could say that writing is my job, but in truth, writing is a luxury.  Taking care of my family, my pets, myself, and my home is my job, and that's plenty.