Domestically Challenged

What being a mom writer is all about

I am reading this FABULOUS new writing book by Ariel Gore called How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead: Your Words in Print and Your Name in Lights- it's my new favorite writing book of all time. Anyway, it had a poem by Marcy Scheiner that sums up mom writing. If you want to be a writer, you have to write. Period.

Enjoy!!

I Write In The Laundromat


I write in the laundromat.
I am a woman
and between wash & dry
cycles
I write.

I write while the beans soak
and with children's voices
in my ear.
I spell out words for scrabble
while I am writing.

I write as
I drive to the office
where I type a man's letters
and when he goes to
lunch
I write.

When the kids go out the door
on Saturday I write
and
while the frozen dinners thaw
I write.

I write on the toilet
and in the
bathtub
and when I appear to be talking
I am often writing.

I write in
the laundromat
while the kids soak
with scrabbled ears
and beans in the
office
and frozen toilets
and in the car
between wash and dry.

And your
words
and my words
and her words
and their words
and I am a woman
and I
write in the laundromat.

Thoughts on writing

So, at the moment I am working on my second book and a screenplay that I am co writing with my husband.

I was looking a a screenwriting book and found a great quote about writing:

"Discipline is what separates a writer from someone who likes to write."

That is SO true. Having one book under my belt, and taking some time away from writing recently, I can honestly say that the majority of effort that comes with writing a book is actually sitting down and getting it done. Never mind the stress of wondering if what you are writing is crap, the hardest part is actually finishing. It's really, really hard to sit down in front of a computer when all you want to do is go sit with your kids or lounge on the couch and watch a movie. You may have to give up some sleep on the weekends or hole up in your office or the library or Barnes and Noble and write, when you would rather socialize.

But you know what? When that book comes out and someone you love looks at you with wonder because they can find something with your name in the bookstore, it's totally worth it. My moment came shortly after my book came out and my son told his teachers that his mom was an author. He was so proud of me that it made my entire lifetime.

Now, even a year later, he is still asking to use bookmarks with my book on them so he can show them off. The moral of the story is this - if you want to be a writer, you need to write. Turn off the TV, don't surf the net, don't answer your phone. Just write. Eventually you will have pages, then chapters, and then, at some magical point you will have a book. It may not be good (yet), but you can still say you did it. And that makes it all worth it.

So, now I know I'm crazy

You may have heard of NaNoWriMo if you are a member of a writing community. Well, I just did the most undeniably crazy thing I have ever done - I signed up.

Apparently I don't have enough going on with the Noodlearm, or me being sick or my health quest, so I pledged to try and write AN ENTIRE NOVEL IN 30 DAYS.

Now, I have always said that I would never, ever write fiction, but an idea actually came to me and wouldn't leave me alone. I know it is SO cliche, but it's true. I was in bed yesterday morning and the lines just came to me. And I actually laid there thinking about them until they sounded pretty good.

This is a huge step outside of my comfort zone. In my opinion, I am not creative and do not have a creative molecule in my body. So, I am deciding to test and see if it can be developed. I even read the lines to my husbnad and you know what? He loved them. He loved them enough to ask me a zillion plot questions that I hadn't even come close to answering. So, wish me luck - now to figure out this plot...

So, I have this book for sale...

And I am going to drive myself CRAZY wondering about sales numbers. The book isn't even OUT yet.

This is going to be a long process. I hate the way Amazon treats authors, but more people seem to go there than B&N. And two days ago, I didn't have a sales rank, but this morning I do, which means people have purchased my book.

Unbelievable.

I'm not sure I ever thought I would get to this point. I went with a small publisher, which means that my book is going to print much quicker than it would with a traditional publisher, and it still feels like it takes forever.

I have excerpts to have placed (hopefully), queries to send to my local media and a book launch party to schedule. On that note, I want my mom to make my invites, but I wonder if it will be too mcuh for her. Then I looked athow much it would cost to have custom invites made. Um, lets put it this way - computer printed invites from Michaels are looking pretty good right now.

It's happening...

I had a very nice surprise today. My book popped up for pre-order on Amazon and B&N today. Here is a cover:

Pretty cool, huh?

Even though I have soooo much to do, I am so excited. People have actually already ordered my book!

Right now, I am in the process of planning my book launch party. Right now my conundrum is where to have it. I am having trouble finding a place that can accomodate a large group of people. In all realities, I could have over 75 people!! Wild, isn't it? I didn't think I knew that many people, but apparently I do, then when you start asking people to bring people, it starts to add up.

I have also landed a few good blurbs and a forward by Cynthia Brian, so I am excited by that. I am also going to donate a portion of my royalties to her charity Be The Star You Are. I am excited about this because she does a lot for literacy, which has always been very important to me.

Thank goodness for the little glimmers of hope

So, I have this book coming out and I am doing all of my own publicity. Which is not for the timid, I might add. And I have been really, really upset depressed bummed out because I haven't heard anything back from any of the places that I send books to for reviews.

I still haven't scheduled my book launch party. because I have no idea how to do that. I mean, do I have to pay for everything myself, because that would suck. Do I call up businesses and beg ask for them to defray some of the costs? I just don't know.

Anyway, so I have been really down because I feel like I am wading through jello. I was working along, getting queries for excerpts ready for various magazines, and I received an email from a magazine that might feature it as a recommended product for their summer shopping guide. HUH?!?!!?

Talk about a wonderful way to lift all the crappy negative energy I had been carrying around for the past few days weeks.

Can you tell I discoverd a new little feature that I really like love? :)

Cool Writers Moments

I had a few cool writing moments this week.

First - I did something that was completely nerve wracking - I wrote the poems for my son's Valentine's Day crafts. I wrote one that was given from the kids to their parents and one for a project that was given to the teacher. Guess what? They moved people to tears!!

The teachers loved them both, the other room moms loved them and when I went in to help, the teacher introduced me as the author of the poem that they were using that day. One of my son's friends even asked me if I was a writer. I said yes and his response was - "That's so cool!"

Two - I received the ARC's for my book this week. I didn't realize that they would be bound and everything. Considering how much I spent on them, I'm glad they are, but still. They look like a real book, only slightly bigger to put all the important info on the front.

I even dropped $15 on shipping off 10 ARC's to various people to get th ebook reviewed. So far, I have only had one response back from those who looked at the edoc of it. so that makes me nervous as hell. What if it sucks? That would be bad...

This is hard work...

So, I am finally hitting the 20,000 word mark on my non-fic book so for some completely retarded reason I decided to start reading through what I wrote.

Now, I am very proud of myself for writing that many words on one topic. But even though it is only the first draft, I was hoping it would be much better. I have no problem with going back and editing, but I still feel a bit of panic creeping in.

It's not so much that I don't think I can do it - I know I can. It's just a matter of time. If I can't get my manuscript in by the end of November, then I have to wait until the next publication date. This would push my book from next April to next December and I don't know that I want to do that. On the other hand, since I started trying to finish (?) the book, I have been concerned about trying to rush it.

Maybe I should just go for the later date. With working full time and having a surgery in there, it probably isn't a bad idea. Unless I think about who else might come out with a book like mine.

I hate being indecisive. I also hate feeling like I have to make a decision now.