Sometimes I feel like I have way too much on my plate. Of course, then I look at people who manage to juggle more than I do, and I feel like a whineass…

I essentially have two writing careers. Or one split into two personalities, depending on how you want to look at it. As Karenna Colcroft, obviously I write romance and erotic romance. I promote those stories, try to manage this website (sometimes I let it slide a little too long…), and write and revise new stories. Under a different name, I write young adult urban fantasy, and am also working on a young adult contemporary. And I promote those books, try to manage an associated website, and write and revise new stories. Because promoting YA is somewhat different from promoting romance e-books, at least in my experience, there’s a couple different skill sets there that I have to juggle, in addition to completing projects in both genres.

I only work part time right now, and that job is seasonal and will end for the winter within the next month or so. Still, time at work takes away time from writing (although I confess I’m typing this post at work right now… it’s been raining all week and no one’s boating, which means we’ve been slow since our company assists boaters who break down on the water).

I have two daughters, and during the month this summer that they spent with their father, I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t giving them as much time as I should because I’d been spending so much time on writing and promoting. So I made some plans to change that. I won’t say that my kids take time away from writing, because my daughters are far more important than my books. Writing, however, by necessity sometimes takes time away from them. Then again, as my husband pointed out, if I worked a regular 9-5 job or something like that, I wouldn’t even be home with my kids. At least when I’m working on my books and promoting, I’m home and available.

Then there are my health issues, which I’ve already blogged about, so I won’t go into them again. The need sometimes for a nap or to just plain rest definitely takes time away from writing. (And when I say need, I mean my eyes won’t stay open, everything aches, and I can’t concentrate.)

I’ve considered polishing off a couple of commitments I have now and then taking some time off from the romance stuff to focus more on YA and on my family and home. Then three or four new romance ideas flood into my brain and I want to write them. I don’t really want to cut down on writing. I think I just really need to work on my time management skills.

I know authors who work full time, have children, spend time with friends, and still manage to write more than I do and promote it all. They know how to manage their time. Either that or they don’t sleep… LOL. They’re the ones I look at and wonder why I’m complaining so much.

So… yeah… I don’t really have a conclusion here. Just kind of thinking out loud. I’d be interested to see what others think, though. Even if you agree that I complain too much

It’s Wednesday, the day I’ve set aside for blogging here as well as in the weekly slot I have over on A History of Romance. I did that blog, but I’ve been procrastinating all day on this one.

I’m not really in a romancey mood lately. The romance novella I’ve been working on hasn’t been going well, and I came to the conclusion this morning that I need to do a major revamp on it to make it work. So I’m giving up on finishing it for the moment–I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to finish it since Friday–and tomorrow I’ll start redoing and undoing what I’ve done. At the moment, I’m feeling kinda grumpy about my romance writing.

I’ve been working on some YA stuff that seems to be more cooperative, and right now that’s kind of where my head is. I’ll get back into the romance groove at some point, probably after I finish undoing and redoing that novella. Meanwhile, between the grumps and a downswing with my health issues, I’m not really in a bloggy mood either… (The health issues tend to cycle from “I’m feeling pretty decent” to “I’m not sure I can get out of bed.” Unfortunately, it isn’t a predictable cycle.)

So this is my blog for this week, and hopefully next week I’ll have something more awesome and profound to share with you.

I’ve been thinking about this, because I’ve been in kind of an analytical mood lately, so I figured I’d pose the question to my blog readers and see what people think.

When I was in high school, I met a boy. We were both 15, though it was almost my 16th birthday. He was cute and funny, and had this strange idea that I was pretty. I invited him to my birthday party, and when he called to accept the invitation, he asked me to go on a date with him. At the end of the date, he asked me to be his girlfriend.

We “went out” for three weeks. He said he loved me. And then he broke up with me for no apparent reason. I was crushed. Six months later, after we’d become friends again, he asked me out again. This time, we lasted four weeks. And again, he gave no explanation for breaking up with me. A couple decades later, I finally clued in that he wanted sex, didn’t think I was ready, and didn’t want to cheat on me, so he broke up with me so he could sleep with someone else.

For several years, we were friends off and on. On my eighteenth birthday, he took me out to dinner and told me he wanted to make love to me. I won’t go into all the logistics, but let’s just say it didn’t work out that way… but we had a lot of fun trying.

When I met my now-ex husband, my friend didn’t think much of him. But he thought I was happy. Thought I’d be better off than I would have with him. He’d always said he didn’t want to love me because he wasn’t good enough for me. So he stepped aside.

Your opinions: Did he love me?

Five years ago, I became friends with a man who was a fellow writer. As our friendship deepened, he taught me energy healing and yoga, which might sound odd to some, but those things made sense to me. I told him everything, and he helped me to finally confront things that had been done to me in childhood and in my marriage. If it hadn’t been for him, I would never have left my first marriage, because even though I recognized it as abusive I didn’t think I deserved any better. This man and I were purely platonic, even though I fell in love with him and he said he was “open to the possibility” of loving me someday. By the time I left my ex, though, we’d begun to drift apart, and three months later he ended the friendship.

Your opinions: Did he love me?

I have a friend who lives nearby. Three years ago, there was more than friendship there, but we lived too far apart so it fizzled. We rekindled our friendship after I moved in with the man who’s now my second husband. My friend and I talked a lot, about a lot of things. He encouraged my writing and cheered me on, and even helped me brainstorm a few stories. A few weeks before my wedding this past spring, he IMed me. He told me how much I meant to him, but that I was about to remarry and he didn’t want to interfere in that. Even though I assured him my husband had no objections to the friendship (hubby and I had talked about it), my friend didn’t feel comfortable. I haven’t heard from him since.

Your opinions: Did he love me?

Love takes a lot of different forms. Romance is only one of them. And sometimes, other forms go far deeper than romantic love. I’m not asking for reassurances from my readers about the men I’ve mentioned. I know the answer to my own question. I’m just curious to see what you all think. And if you’ve ever had someone like them in your life.

And no, I’m not just being a whineass.

Well, okay, maybe I am.

If you’ve read my blog before, you’ve probably seen me mention health issues. Since childhood, I’ve required more sleep than most people. As I grew up, it became worse, especially after I had children.

I know, who isn’t tired with kids?

The thing is that over the past several years, and especially since an illness last summer led to a hysterectomy and a still-incomplete recovery therefrom, my exhaustion has reached the point of almost incapacitating me some days. I have days when just walking from my bedroom to my computer is an effort and a half, where I wake up after nine or ten hours of sleep, stay up for a few hours, and then nap for three or four hours. And still go to bed at my normal time and sleep through the night.

After several months of wrangling and debate, last week my doctor finally gave me what he calls a “working diagnosis”. “Working” because he wants me to have a sleep study just to confirm there’s no major sleep issue contributing to this, but he said some of my symptoms can’t be explained by any sleep disorder he’s aware of. So I now can say I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Now, I’m a stubborn bitch, and just being told that isn’t going to change much about my life, any more than being tired all the time has. I’ve learned to pay attention when my body really, really needs rest, but otherwise, I go about a normal daily routine. I’ve given up on the idea of working a full-time day job, and rely on my part-time office job, my writing, and my hubby for income. I exercise daily–even when I’m so tired I’d rather not–, I spend time with my kids and my husband, and I do what I have to do.

Still tired. That isn’t going to go away, since there isn’t really a treatment for CFS other than antidepressants (which I refuse to take because the side effects outweigh the benefits for me). The symptoms can be managed, and I’m managing them, because I refuse to let them manage me.

And now that I’ve said that, I think I’m gonna go take a nap. LOL.

Is weird. LOL

Monday night, I appeared on the blog talk radio show “Other Worlds of Romance,” with Linda Mooney. Check out my home page if you want to hear the interview; I’ve linked to it and I think I’ve posted the interview itself there, though my techno-fu skills are occasionally on the fritz. While you’re on the home page, please check out the list of all the guest blog and interview appeareances I’ll be doing over the next month. You never know what you might learn about me… and I’m collecting commenters’ names to draw for a prize after the final appearance.

I have to say, the show was a lot of fun. Linda is great to talk with, and put me at ease immediately. I stumbled over answering some of her questions, though, and while I had an excerpt from Eternal Love ready to read to my listeners, I’d neglected to print out the blurb. (Thanks, Phoebe, for posting it in the chat room for Linda to read!)

I’d really like to thank everyone who tuned in to listen, especially those in the chat room. It helped so much knowing that people I knew were out there supporting me. And it helped knowing people were listening, because I’d had horrible visions of no one at all tuning in.

This morning, I sat down at my computer and pulled up the Other Worlds web page. The show started playing automatically. I listened to about five minutes of it before I cringed… Have you ever noticed how strange your own voice sounds when you hear it on a recording? That, plus my fumbling for the right words, kinda made me not want to listen. Of course, I’m my own worst critic! I didn’t do badly at all, I just always feel weird listening to myself, and I notice the down side before I notice the good things.

I really appreciate Linda giving me the opportunity to appear, though, and I’m definitely going to keep her show in mind next time I have a paranormal romance available. If you write paranormal romance, check out her show (link is on my home page, remember) and get in touch with her.

And if you listen to my broadcast, please leave me a comment here; I’d love to know what you thought.

It was Independence Day weekend here in the US, which meant lots of fireworks. And lots of boaters out on the water around here. Some of whom broke down.

I work for a marine assistance company. Supposedly just doing bookkeeping and paperwork, although my father-in-law/boss had mentioned training me to do dispatching. Well, this past weekend, I got my training, ready or not. Because of a whole lot of factors, on Saturday and again yesterday, I wound up being the only person in the office. So I had no choice but to handle the phone calls and some of the radio communications.

I did it. I’m kinda proud of myself for it, because I’d thought I wouldn’t be able to manage. I got a little anxious a few times, because I was just plain being bombarded (and I was tired…), but I managed just fine. Even got a few compliments from my father-in-law, his brother, and of course hubby, who works there as well.

Because of all that, I got pretty much no writing or revising done over the weekend. I’m now behind on my self-imposed deadline schedule, which makes me a bit antsy, but really… they’re self-imposed. The world will not come to an end. I’ll just have to work harder to try to catch up with myself.

However, I did have a happy-making thing: My new novel, Eternal Love, is now available from Pink Petal Books, along with new releases from Lex Valentine and Mary Winter! Check out the gorgeous cover art at that link, or on my front page or Bookshelf page. And keep an eye out around the web, ’cause I have several virtual appearances planned to celebrate

No, not for politicians or anything civically responsible like that, though of course you should do that too.

I’m talking about heading on over to Pink Petal Books www.pinkpetalbooks.com, downloading the six FREE wedding stories available there, and then voting for your favorite story and cover.

Naturally, I’d love it if you voted for one of my stories. “Beginning Again” features Kyla and Alec from Beginner’s Luck, and their story is pretty strongly based on my own wedding which occurred back in April. “Forever After” gives readers a sneak peek at Rhys and Gwen, the hero and heroine of Eternal Love, which will be released from Pink Petal on July 8.

But I’ll be happy if you just head over there and vote, even if it isn’t for one of mine. There are some great stories there, four others besides mine from authors Mary Winter, Scarlett Jonstone, Christine Pope, and Jasmine Aherne. And when you vote, you have a chance to win a prize!

Six free stories from some of your favorite Pink Petal Books authors, plus a chance to win things? Can’t beat that!

So go to www.pinkpetalbooks.com between now and June 30, read, and vote.

And thanks

Today I’d like to welcome my fellow Pink Petal Books author Janice Seagraves, who’s here to tell us a little about her recent release Windswept Shores. Janice, thanks for stopping by!

1. How long have you been writing?

Since I was twenty, but I’ve been writing for publication for a little over ten years.

2. Your novella Windswept Shores was recently released from Pink Petal Books. Please tell us a little about that story.

It’s about a couple who end up on the same little uninhabited island in the Bahamas, but by different means. Megan’s plane crashes into the ocean, and Seth’s boat gets reefed. Megan finds Seth nearly drowned, washed up on shore and then her story really begins.

3. What else have you had published?

Windswept is my first published book. So you can say I’m a newbie writer.

4. Do you have any future releases we should know about?

I’m working on Windswept 2 the Journey Home.

5. What caused you to choose to write romance?

I fell in love with the happily ever after. You can only get that from a good romance.

6. Where can your readers find you around the Internet?

http://janiceseagraves.org/ also on my main blog: http://ladyjanice.blogspot.com/

I’m running a contest every Thursday on my blog, so please stop by and enter.

7. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Yes, my book. I had a lot of fun writing it. Believe it or not—I could actually smell the ocean while I worked on it. Seth’s Aussie accent took me a little longer, but once I had mastered it—his personality just popped into existence. Then he took over the book. And he is such a tease. He bothers poor Megan to distraction, lol.

Windswept Shores by Janice Seagraves

$4.95
erotic contemporary romance
novel (approx 50K)
price $4.95

BLURB:
The sole survivor of a plane crash, Megan is alone on a deserted island in the Bahamas until she finds a nearly-drowned man washed up on shore. Another survivor, this time from a boat wreck. With only meager survival skills between them, will they survive and can they find love?

EXCERPT:

Breathing hard, she flicked a glance at the teal-colored sea. She’d thought a vacation to the Bahamas would be the perfect getaway, would be a solution to the problems she and Jonathan had faced. She’d been wrong—dead wrong. Tears of grief filled her eyes. The never-ending crash of the waves on the beach and the cries of the seagulls seemed to mock her with the reminder she was utterly alone.
She’d felt like a tiny speck of sand last night when a violent storm had swept across the island. It had made a mess of her meager campsite, which had taken all morning to fix, and had demolished her seaweed SOS sign. She’ll have to recreate her SOS. Sighing, Megan trudged toward a pile of kelp. As she got closer, she saw a figure wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt. Her stomach lurched.
Oh, God, it’s another body washed up from the plane wreck. That would be number twelve. As always, she couldn’t help but wonder if the next one would be Jonathan. He hadn’t been wearing jeans on the plane, so she knew she’d been spared seeing his corpse this time. Thank God. She approached the body with dread. Tightening her resolve, she knelt. Suddenly the “dead body” coughed and rolled over. With a scream, Megan jumped back. She clutched her chest and pressed a shaking hand to her mouth.
He’s alive!
Biting her lip, she stared down at the still-breathing man. His drenched t-shirt molded against his broad shoulders and well developed upper body. Short, golden brown hair stuck out in all directions.
Megan, get control of yourself. Don’t wet your pants the first time you finally see a living person. She got on her knees, plucked the seaweed from him and wiped the sand from his face. His day-old whiskers scratched her palm. Reddened skin stretched across both cheekbones and over the bridge of his nose. Her thumb caressed his parched full bottom lip.
She patted the side of his face. “Hey, are you okay?” That’s a dumb question. He isn’t okay.
“Hmm?” Gray eyes fluttered open. He stared at her a long moment, frowning slightly.
“G’day.”
“Hello there.” She hated the sound of her voice. It sounded rusty, unused.
Abruptly he rolled away from her to heave onto the sand, making a loud, ugly retching noise.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then looked at her. “Sorry, mate, I swallowed too much sea.” His gaze went over her shoulder in the direction of the bonfire which crackled and popped not far from them. “Mite big for a barbie.”
Sitting back on her heels with her hands folded in her lap, Megan followed his gaze, then back to him. “My signal fire.”
“Signal for what?”
“Help.”
His accent intrigued her. Was he English or Australian?
“G’darn,” he looked around, “where the bloody hell am I?”
“Don’t know. There’s no one here to ask.” Megan shrugged helplessly, but couldn’t contain her curiosity. “Are you from England?”
“Naw,” he rubbed his eyes, “I hail from Sydney, but my port of call these days is Fort Lauderdale.” He blinked up at her. “You?”
Ah, he’s an Aussie. “I’m Megan Lorry, from Anaheim, California,” she said, barely loud enough to be heard above the sounds of the surf and the roar from the fire. “Are you a survivor of Air Bahamas flight 227, too?”

Yep, that’s a pretty accurate title. I’ve been sitting at various computers since last night wondering what I should blog about here this week. I say “various” because while I usually write at my desktop computer, I also attempted–and failed–to blog from my Netbook, and I’m currently using my father-in-law’s computer at work.

Yes, I’m allowed to blog at work. I technically do paperwork and bookkeeping relating to the operation of a “marine assistance towing company.” However, when that paperwork and bookkeeping is completed, I also am expected to spend some time monitoring for phone calls and radio calls, which means time spent just kinda sitting here. So I have permission to do writery stuff when my work-related stuff is finished, as long as I answer the phones and listen to the VHF radio. And as long as my husband’s uncle doesn’t walk up behind me again and see me writing about my heroine giving her boyfriend’s best friend a blow job while the boyfriend does her doggy. (My husband’s father and uncle own this place, and he works for them. They all know what I write. That doesn’t mean they actually want to see it. LOL.)

So here I sit, realizing that it’s Wednesday, my usual blogging day, and I don’t have a topic. Other than how stressed I am about a situation in my personal life, but I don’t really want to go into that here right now. I’m practicing mindfulness. If I believe it will resolve to my highest benefit, it will. If I stress and whine about it, it’ll go bad pretty quickly. So I’m choosing to only stress and whine about it to hubby and his parents, because they’re aware of the situation and why it upsets me.

Since I don’t have anything really to blog about, I’m being pretty random. Looking out at the harbor outside the shop, and wondering when I can leave, which will be sometime after hubby comes in and his uncle returns from a tow, since right now I’m the only employee in the office. I need to get home and continue working on the story Ellora’s Cave requested a revise and resubmit on, which is extremely cool. (That they asked for that, not the story…though hopefully the story’s pretty cool, too. Or pretty hot. Or both.)

I could be writing right now, but it probably isn’t a good idea to save my stories on this computer…

Hope everyone is having a great week, and that you’re all finding excellent things to read. Speaking of which, remember to stop by www.pinkpetalbooks.com and check out the free reads that are part of their wedding promotion, including two stories by yours truly. Voting on the six awesome stories involved in the promo begins Sunday, so read, enjoy, and cast your vote for a chance to win prizes from PPB!

Next to my desk sits a small wooden bookcase. Attached to the side of the bookcase are four little cork squares that I use to tack up little slips of index cards with the titles of my works in progress, the things I need to edit/revise, and the things I have under submission.

At least, that cork is supposed to be attached to the bookcase. I got up this morning to find two of the four squares lying on the floor. As I sit here typing this, I’m watching one of them try to fall off again. Apparently the adhesive has worn off, and my husband has hidden the wood glue from me again.

I have a horrible time keeping things organized. Half the systems I’ve tried involve sticking things in folders, which would be fine except for the fact that with me, out of sight is literally out of mind. When I put things in folders, I can’t see them and therefore forget about them entirely.

So I have a wall, a closet door, and the side of that little wooden bookcase. I have so many pieces of paper taped to the wall above my desk that you can’t see the wallpaper–which isn’t a big loss, the wallpaper here is hideous–and a markerboard attached to the closet door. (That, at least, seems to be staying put.) I have a calendar, a list of projects and when I want to finish each one, scraps on which I’ve written down phrases that struck my fancy and which I intend to use in a story someday.

Thank goodness I have a tolerant family. While our computer room is separate from the living room, it is shared among the four of us. Well, three… my 14-year-old has decided it makes life easier for everyone if she sits on the living room couch with her laptop, which is fine with me since I can still peek over her shoulder to see what she’s doing. So all of them have to deal with all my paper scraps and notes and so on.

Fortunately for me, they’re all proud of my writing and what success I’ve managed to find, and they understand that I have all these things to help me along in my career. I think, though, that they wish my organization didn’t involve so much paper…

So how do you keep yourself organized?