Sometimes things are moving at a snail’s pace when suddenly, something happens, a catalyst is added, and that snail’s pace is pedal-to-the-metal caffeinated.
In September I was asked by a publishing company if I would be interested in writing “A Beginner’s Guide to Chinese Herbal Medicine.” I submitted my writing sample, not at all confident I would be chosen, but figuring what the heck, why not?
I did, indeed, get the ‘write for hire’ gig, and here it was: the entire book schedule, from beginning to finishing writing the content, was done in six weeks. WEEKS! I asked for an extra week for returning the edits I needed to make (shew!) because six weeks didn’t seem like much time.
The whole thing has been, well, interesting. I write and edit and rewrite in all the odd moments, down time and late at night. Any time my son is in a speech appointment or taekwondo class, I’m sitting in the waiting room, paper and colored pen, editing or computer open, typing. And I vacillate between this confidence (hey! I’m a legit author now, not a wannabe!) and despair (when the editors see this, they’ll know I’m a total imposter) all with a healthy dose of exhaustion from staying up too late working when I couldn’t find any ‘free’ time that day.
I’ve got about two weeks before it’s all over and done, and it has proven to me that the NaNoWriMo month (where writers commit to writing an entire novel in a month) is a real and useful idea. While you may not get the whole novel written, having a firm deadline proved to me that, when time is tight, I will search out all those available moments and make them work for me. That I’ll not be quite so particular about where I write, the noise levels and distractions.
The book I’m writing now is set to be published April 7, 2020. I’ve got two weeks more of cramming before I turn it all in and give myself a few days to binge watch something…and then I’m starting on the second draft of a book I’ve already written, since I’ve proven to myself I can find the time to do it, no matter what.
In addition to further announcements about the book, also stay tuned for two ecourses I’ll be launching in January and February.
