Remembering my Hero. Dad!

It's been hard to concentrate on writing this week. I've put in good hours but you have to understand. I love summer! I've been looking forward to this time of year since January.

Granted, I have to finish my current novel. It's my personal goal. No one is asking for it and I'm not under contract but I want to get it out there for submission.

Also, Memorial Day always makes me cry. I was very close with my father who was a LT Commander in the Navy in WWII. I almost lost him but he survived to come home and be the greatest dad ever!

He passed away from Prostate Cancer in 2007 and I still miss him to this day. I discovered a therapy of planting when this holiday rolls around because I like bringing things to life. My father loved to garden and would grow the best fruits and vegetables in his own garden and a community garden as well. I know I inherited that trait from him.

This week, I've planted over 84 plants in his honor and they are thriving so far. Yes, I do take it personally if one of them dies! I'm tired and my back is killing me, but it's so peaceful to look at my garden as it comes to life.

As of  Tuesday, I'll concentrate on writing and making my father proud of me!

Setting Realistic Goals for Writing Time

At times, I am too hard on myself. I feel like I should be glued to my chair and my laptop non stop writing. But I've learned that life doesn't work like that for me. I love my family and friends and want to make time with them too. I approach my writing as a career/job. I put in my time and when I'm done, then it's me time.

As of late, things are not going as planned. I don't mean that in a bad way, but I need to be more assertive of my writing schedule than I have been. I've written eleven books in five years, so why am I struggling with only two of them in this last year?

Maybe it was the five weddings, (four out of state) I've been to this year. Long lost family and friends coming for a visit; two years of appliance breakdowns and waiting for repair and service men between the hours of 8 - 5 to appear at my door. (Kind of breaks down a writer's concentration even though it's fuel for a new book...)

Oh! And let's not forget the many tornado warnings we've had this year and hanging out in our 'Fraidy Hole. (The closet under the stairs). That's not good for my concentration either.

Today, I'm making a new resolution to take advantage of my time to devote to writing. I'm going to let the creative process take over and embrace it fully.

After this tornado warning subsides. Sigh. Back to the 'Fraidy Hole. Again.

Getting into a Writing Mindset

I have tried writing every day since last Sunday and got all the way to Wednesday. Sigh. Things happen in my life that I can't just put aside and I have to deal with that crisis as it comes up.

Even my horoscope has told me to make writing a priority. So yesterday, I sat in my office raring to go and my husband came into my office very upset and emotional about an issue at work. First off, he's the level one. I'm Sicilian and fly off the handle at every turn. For him to come up to my office in the first place is a definite cry for help. He and my daughter are the most important people in my life.

We decided to tackle this issue together and the more he talked about it, the calmer he became and we came up with an idea how to tackle this without name calling and taking the high road. By lunch time, he had calmed down enough for me to get back to my writing.

Back at my computer, I started to write and got to maybe two thousand words and then my mind became a complete blank.

I'm taking today off to enjoy myself. I mowed the entire lawn while it was a cool 75 here. I had a leisurely breakfast and I will chill.

The lesson I learned is that people should not write emails while angry. I don't care what anyone says. Words hurt and cannot be taken back.

My Characters are Driving Me Crazy!

It's been a challenging week at the Kasznia's. Way too much stuff going on in the household. Makes working on the book take a back seat and I feel badly because I really want to finish this story and get it submitted!

I looked forward to Saturday because my daughter worked and my husband had a tee time. Five hours for me! Whoo Hoo!

I put a load of wash into my eight year old front loader and it didn't sound right, but I ignored it like I have since September when it started making that noise. Everytime I've started it up, I've crossed my fingers and said a little prayer.

I ran upstairs to my office and start writing and I'm on fire! The characters are talking to me as if we're trying to catch up with each other! It's great!  The signal goes off and I get to a stopping point and run downstairs to transfer the wash to the dryer. I load the second load and the control panel blinks at me. Huh? I pushed the OFF button and it didn't register. Now I'm pushing all the buttons and the door locks. My clothes are locked inside and I can't get them out! The control panel is blinking like it's possessed and I'm freaking out! How do I get the door unlocked?

Okay. I can do this. I used to fix computers and the best thing to do is to unplug it and plug it back in. Will I get electrocuted because things are still blinking? I ran back upstairs and texted my husband on the golf course. I know he can't drop what he's doing but I need someone to talk to about this. No answer. Hmmm.

I run back downstairs and the control panel is dark. But the door is unlocked! I snatched my clothes out of there in case the machine decided to change it's mind.

It's official. I need a new machine. I went online and looked. Home Depot had the best prices but it's still a lot of money. Since we've been married, my husband and I buy major appliances together looking at all of the options, making sure we've made the best decision. I did it once and he became very upset and hurt that I made a decision without consulting him. Won't do that again!

Checked my phone and there's no response to my text. I can't sit still and writing is out of the question at this point. I drove to Home Depot to see if I could look at the machines I saw online. They don't have the ones I wanted on display. Why would I expect they would?

Back home and now I'm really worried about my husband. Is he okay? It's not like him not to respond to my texts. Is he dead? Did he lose his job and they disabled his cell phone? Is it off? Did he leave it in the car? (If I did that, he'd read me the riot act!) Bingo! He left it in the car. I was not nice.

He got home and we ordered the machine online and it will be delivered on Wednesday. I told the family, there are plenty of bath towels to use until then but there's the, 'but it's my favorite towel' song and dance. I had choice words about that too!

My husband took me out to dinner to make up for it and I had wine and relaxed. At three in the morning, I woke up because I had a dream about my characters, I ran upstairs and started writing until five. I went back to bed and slept until seven. When I read what I wrote, it made no sense and didn't fit into the story at all. I bet they're having a good laugh at me while I'm rewriting the scenes! I'll get even with them! lol!