…what you can do the day after?

Procrastination. The bane of my existence. I have a lot of great story ideas floating around what passes for my brain. I have plenty of time to write those stories, thanks to my fiance as I mentioned in my last post. In theory, I should have written a novella or finished revising one of my novels by now.

Have I? Nope. Not even close. Because I am the queen of procrastination. If anyone wants to fight me for the crown, I’ll get back to you… eventually…

Don’t get me wrong. I do make progress each day. I spend time writing/revising (at the moment, I’m doing a bit of both on two novels, one because I needed to add some content and the other because I have a revise/resubmit that involves changing a large portion of the story). I spend time promoting. I spend time doing research, albeit sometimes in the guise of conversations on the AvoidWritersHell loop and its associated Chatters loop. Yesterday, despite procrastinating much of the day, I wound up writing 2500 words.

Um… that’s 2500 on a novel. Not counting all the tweets, Facebook statuses, promo posts, and emails I wrote. Those would probably add up to another 10K or so…

I’ve blogged before about having trouble focusing on my writing. There’s a difference between that and procrastinating, though. Procrastinating is deliberate. It’s “Oh, wow, there’s an SVU marathon on, and I want to watch it!” or “Oh, look, an email just popped up, I want to read it.” Mainly it’s, “Oh, crap, I’m having trouble thinking of how to phrase this, or trouble asking someone if they’ll interview me,” or whatever, “so I’m going to find something to do to put off having to deal with it.

A friend suggested last night when I mentioned that I was procrastinating by reading emails that I set up notifications so that I’d be alerted to incoming emails. I have those; they’re part of the problem. Those little pop-ups and the accompanying “ping” feed right into my shiny object syndrome, and I want to go read those emails immediately. When I really want to focus on writing and not procrastinate, I actually shut off the notifications so that I’m unaware of incoming emails. Then, when I’ve met a set goal with the writing, I reward myself by checking emails.

Even while writing this post, I’ve been procrastinating. I have Solitaire open, and every time I stop to think of how to phrase something, I click on that window and play a round. With the result that this entry, which I probably could have finished ten minutes ago, has now taken me 20 minutes and counting.

There are times that procrastination actually helps me. If I get really bogged down on a section of story, taking some space from it gives my brain time to process, and usually the solution pops into my head right about the time I stop trying so hard to figure it out. If I’m writing a sex scene, sometimes I struggle with the description or other issues, and I need to step away from the computer at those times. So there is a positive aspect to the procrastination.

Every day I have a to-do list, and most days I get everything on it done. Some days, I just don’t feel like doing it all, though. I think it’s good to give myself a day off once in a while, because then I can come back fresh to what I’ve been working on. That’s another form of positive procrastination.

On the other hand, playing solitaire between paragraphs or checking emails every few seconds just because I don’t want to think too hard… that isn’t so positive. It isn’t helping to further my writing career. And sometimes it results in me getting just plain irritated with myself.

Yep, procrastination’s definitely a problem for me. I’ll do something about it.

Tomorrow.

Sage advice, that. It takes a long time to make a living as a writer. Certainly it can take more work than a day job entails, especially if you’re primarily being e-published, like I am. In addition to writing and revising, a LOT of promoting and marketing has to be done in order to make the sales one would need to make a living, or even supplement one. I know authors who work two or three jobs to support their writing habit, and I know others who write many different things under different names, submitting stories, articles, reviews and so forth to try to make a go of having writing be their full-time job.

Believe me, writing is full-time when one includes the processes of getting publishers to accept your work and getting readers to buy it. I found that out all too clearly after I returned to work at the beginning of December, after not working for several months due to the health issues and surgery I’ve mentioned before in this blog. While I was sick and recovering, I had time to write and promote, and to do housework, care for my kids, and all the other things I need to do in the course of a day. Once I returned to work, suddenly that time evaporated.

I fully acknowledge that part of it is a lack of time management skills on my part. However, even when I set up a schedule and stuck to it, things just didn’t get done. Especially the writing and promoting I wanted to do.

That’s when my fiance and his parents told me, “Quit your day job.”

It isn’t a permanent thing. In a few months, I have a seasonal job I’ll be starting. But between lingering health problems and all the things I want to do with my writing and my family, it’s a huge relief to have two or three more months to myself. And it’s an incredibly good feeling to realize that my fiance and his parents believe in me and my writing enough to give me this chance. So here I sit, halfway through my first week as a full time writer, hoping that I prove worthy of their faith.

I have utmost admiration for the writers I know who juggle it all. Someday, I hope to be like them, because as I said, the no-day-job thing is only temporary. Meanwhile, I’ll practice time management, and improve my craft, and maybe, just maybe, sell a few books.

Yup, my newest novella, Deep Down, will be released by Siren Publishing tomorrow! I’m really excited about this one. I started writing Deep Down last spring in answer to a submission call from Phaze Books for books that involve big cities. Their Urban Phaze line. I chose Boston, my favorite big city in the United States and the only one I’ve been to more than once. (I live there now; at the time, I still lived in Maine, though.) The plot was pretty simple, or so I thought. When I was sixteen, I visited my “uncles” in Boston and, while wandering the city, met a subway musician. A very cute one, who kindly let me sit there and chat and even sing with him for a couple hours. I never learned his name and never saw him again, but I’d held onto that seed for a future story. He became Tanner Wohl. Other than being from Maine, though, Courtney Southard bears no resemblance to me.

So I had the characters, and once I figured out their names, I started writing. No real plot in mind, other than that they lived in Boston and met in the subway. I just wanted to see where they’d take their story.

Then I got the first revisions back on my novella Beginner’s Luck, and Deep took a back seat. Beginner’s needed a LOT of work, and it intimidated me. I felt like the worst writer in the universe, and I couldn’t stand to work on anything else knowing that I’d done so poorly with this one. Yeah, I’m a drama queen sometimes. But between the time that those revisions took me and the lack of confidence in my writing, Deep Down was ignored for quite a while.

I went back to it knowing more about writing than I had, because I’d learned from the revisions I’d done on Beginner’s. However, I’d kind of lost track of the storyline, and had to go back and fix some things that just plain didn’t work. Then I discovered that the characters didn’t want to get down and dirty, and the hero was kind of a whiner. Back to the drawing board; I recreated Tanner Wohl as less of a whiner and more of a hero, made Courtney Southard less of a twenty-something teenybopper and more of a heroine, and managed to struggle through to the ending I wanted. And they did eventually get down and dirty.

After a couple rounds of revisions on my own, helped along again by what I’d learned from my Beginner’s revisions and revisions on a YA novel I wrote under a different name, I submitted Deep to Phaze. And promptly received a very courteous rejection, which I blogged about at the time. So I revised it again, looked around at different e-publishers, and chose Siren to send it to next. They accepted it, and here I am, eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s release!

I’ll be celebrating release day with fellow Siren author Julia Barrett over on the Beth Wylde Yahoo group, and I hope you join us there. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bethwylde/ I’ll be there from 5-8 pm Eastern; Julia’s showing up earlier. I’ll also be partying on the Romance Lives Forever Yahoo loop on Sunday the 10th from 3-5 pm Eastern. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancelivesforever/?yguid=137381532

See you there!

Today I’m welcoming historical erotic romance (among other things) author Patricia Bates. Thanks for stopping by, Pat!

Tell us about your most recent book. What’s it about? When does/did it release?
My most recent book is a historical Erotic novel set in Louis XV court. After a lot of brainstorming and research I’m happy with the resulting book – though admit it could have been a lot longer. I’m told that the political intrigue in it was well done – if a bit cut short – but hey it wasn’t a political thriller.
It features two very unlikely people thrown together by a king whose as lavish with his praise as he is with his ire. When the hero decides to take his younger brother’s place in Versailles, he has no idea of what’s in store.
Once he gets there, he’s gifted with a most unusual gift – the exotic beauty that serves the Queen as a Lady in Waiting. Amid court scandal, jealous mistresses, and bitter family members, they struggle not only with their own feelings of betrayal but their growing attraction. When he comes under suspicion for being a traitor, it’s up to the heroine – a spy for the Queen to save the day – in a most unusual way.
Hot sex, stubborn pride, and the jealous, power-hungry mistress of the king and the story races along.

 What publishers have you published with?
I’ve published with three separate publishing houses. Blade Publishing, Champagne Books, and Carnal Passions which is the imprint for Champagne Books.

 How long have you been writing in general? How long have you been writing romance?
This is a tough question to answer because most people don’t believe me when I tell ‘em the truth. I started writing poetry in primary school – nothing fancy four or five lines and by junior high I’d finished my second full length novel. I’ve been writing romance and historical romance though for the past ten years – its only been in the last few years that I’ve gotten the courage to submit to a publishing house.

 Do you write anything other than romance? Under this name or a different one?
Yes I do. I write a lot of different things. I’ve written fan fiction for years – under two different psuedonames, Destardi for my western fan fic, and Shadowlady for my X-men fic.
Currently I’m working on my most ambitious projects yet. I’m writing a follow up of my debut novel and the #1 best seller for Champagne in May of 09, Master’s Mistress which is going to be well over the 100K mark. As well, I’m dabbling in a genre I’ve never written in before – paranormal. I’m currently working on a novel(la) about a couple who face some rather daunting barriers – she’s been dead for well over 150 years – and he’s still alive.

 Out of the books you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?
Ooh that’s hard to say. I think I’d have to say Master’s Mistress because I got to learn so much about a culture that’s always fascinated me and write something that wasn’t your typical cookie-cutter novel with an air-head heroine and a muscle-bound hero. Not that I’ve read a lot of them lately, hehe, its just, I think historicals are so confined these days. You have to be historically accurate and yet they want you to remain PC at the same time. With Master’s Mistress, I could play with my characters, torment them, and at the same time really draw my readers into the 9^th century Irish/Viking conflict.

 Tell us something about you that you’d like your readers to know.
I’m multi-talented. Not only am I a literary nut and major book junkie but I can ride a horse, and crochet just about anything. And I love driving my family nuts by sitting watching them and typing away on the computer.

 When you look back now on the first story you ever wrote, what do you think of it?
It needs a bit of work. I just took it out the other day and read through a couple of chapters and with a lot of hard work and a really good, totally brutal crit partner I think it would be a very nice freebie – but I’d never sub it to a publisher.

 What goals do you have for your writing career?
Ultimately, I’d love to see one of my books published through one of the bigger publishing houses such as Avon, Dorchestor, Kensington.

 Would you like to share any words of wisdom with aspiring/new authors?
Keep at it, you’ll be rewarded in the end if you preserve. And when you make a contract – don’t think you’ve got everything set, be willing to learn, to develop your skills, and expand your horizons. – Last thing you want to do is write a few books and find that by your sixth they’re starting to read the same. (

 Where can your readers learn more about you? (Website, blog, etc.) Where can your books be purchased?
For more information on me and my writing, you can check me out on my website: www.patriciabates.webs.com or either of my blogs, http://ofinkandquille.blogspot.com www.patriciamb.wordpress.com
To purchase my books, you can go to
www.bladepublishing.org

www.champagnebooks.com

www.carnalpassions.com