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Many years ago, I had stopped reading and writing altogether. I had been in a bad situation and it left me in a pretty bad place in life. Without going into too much detail, I was a newly single mother of a toddler and infant and had no idea what to do with my life. Depression wasn't quite the word for what I experienced. In the years following up to this event, reading and writing wasn't enjoyable. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted and had nearly given up my passion. It wasn't until after my devastation that I decided to pick up a book to see if I could escape from my crumbling reality. I had forgotten what it felt like to be whisked away into the world between the pages and live inside of them. Shockingly, the first books I came back to were......
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Obviously, I have a problem. After being socially active for some time, I fall off the face of the earth and bury myself in projects and other things, including my normal day-to-day life, as an avoidance tactic. In this business, being present means building your brand (your name) and a fanbase. It also equates to book sales and reviews, etc. It's A LOT to manage on your own, especially if you have other things going on in your life which require your attention.
Aside from being an author, I'm a mother and a wife. I also have a full time job as an IT Support Tech and I own a small business on the side. My life is never 100% slow. With the kids come the extracurriculars such as sports, band, etc, in which I am their primary mode of transportation and support. My husband's job is physically demanding so during the week, I shoulder much of the basic needs and he fills in the rest on the weekends. We also have a pug named Frankie (who you'll see if you follow me on Instagram) and she gets ALL the attention because, well, she's the baby! On any given day, between all of my social media accounts, I'm burning up the WiFi or data to connect to people. Finding that balance is ROUGH. I need to be here to spend time with my family, but I need to also be HERE to spend time with my online family. When does it become too much? My husband and I have squabbled about this in the past and at some point I have to decide when I've crossed the boundary and left my family behind. So you can see my dilemma? I may post on Twitter or Instagram and sometimes even Facebook, but my blog and journal will go lacking, especially when I don't have a terrible amount of things to say. I mean, do you want to hear about my day at the office? Do you need to know that my son has strep throat? Does my struggle with life make for tantalizing news? If you wouldn't recognize my name next to any others, chances are none of the above matters to you, so what the hell am I to write about? Blogging is a challenge because, well, I'm just not that interesting! I don't peruse the internet looking for articles. I don't care enough about trolling other writer's Goodreads or Amazon looking for some type of drama to report on. I'm just not that type of person and I won't sink to that level just for "clicks". If people don't want to be here because of some cheesy headline that has nothing to do with me or my work. I want you all to be here BECAUSE of me or my work. It's why I do what I do. So please don't think I don't care or that I'm not trying to put out more of a variety of work for you all to read. I have simply been in a funk and can't seem to stick to one project long enough to finish anything. I've tried, and every time I get pulled away toward something else. It sucks, but that's just the way things are right now. If you want to keep up with me, PLEASE connect on all of my social media!! You will see my quirky, nerdy and definitely dweeby self and will see that I truly do embrace this passion, I just have a hard time expressing it sometimes! Promise me you'll follow?? I'll hold you to it!!! See you on the other side!! Lisa xoxoxoxo P.S - For some reason, I'm unable to link my accounts, so I've included them below!! One month. That's all that's left of 2015. I keep looking back on this year, trying to figure out whether I've actually accomplished anything. I feel like I've been running in place, grasping at straws and making an all out ass of myself. I can't be alone in this, right?
It seems I like to just fly by the seat of my pants most days and that doesn't work for me. I know it doesn't work, but I've done little to fix it. NO MORE. I am putting some new things into place in December that will help to keep me engaged with my "fans" and connections, free up my computer time to do things that are actually productive and give me some much needed time to spend with my family. One of the most frustrating parts of this business is the saturation of the market. There are SO MANY authors out there who've published in some capacity. A good portion of them are great, but there are those who need more practice that are ruining it for the rest of us. I hate to sound like I'm full of myself (which if you've read any of my work at all, you know that's not me), but I like to think my talent is at least above the average author. When I see other authors see success when their skill level is lacking, to put it nicely, I get extremely discouraged. Not to say that their stories aren't wonderful, but the delivery leaves something to be desired in some cases. But I digress. My personal feelings about the publishing world is pretty much irrelevant. Every author dreams of something bigger and I'm no different. Unfortunately, I just don't have those types of connections to make it happen, which is why I have been struggling as of late. I'm sure you've seen me say "Procrastination is my superpower" at some point and I am definitely not lying about that. Sometimes, it gets so bad that I'm up until 6 am just trying to finish a scene or task. It can get pretty ridiculous. This is also why I'm working on correcting my terrible behavior! That being said, I hope to have another book coming out around the first of the year that is completely different from everything else. You might have seen Falling Undercover listed on my social media or even seen the page on my website. It is a romantic suspense novel that I hope won't completely suck :p. Well, I'm off to write for about an hour before I have to sleep to go back to my real life job (highly overrated, I know). Happy reading, loves! Lisa xoxoxoxo I feel the need...the need to...write? Well, it started out sounding right! I'm going to attempt NaNoWriMo again this year. I didn't win last year, but as I haven't written much this year, I am determined. I always have a hard time figuring out whether I want to start something new or continue an existing project. I've heard many people say that you're most likely to finish if you work on something brand new, but I'm not sure if that's true for everyone.
I've got two stories I'm working on: Falling Undercover and the next Legacy of Secrets novella. I have about ten other story ideas and no idea where I want to start. That would be one of the many cons of my writer-life. Dialogue and story outlines are a constant through my mind, as are the million other things I have going on each day. Which would you choose? Something fresh and new? Or something that is waiting to be finished? I want to know!!! ~Lisa  If you've kept up with any of my previous posts, you'd know that I'm a bit of a work-a-holic. Aside from writing, I have a full time job and a home based business. I am also a wife and mother and pretty much tired all the time as a result. HOWEVER....I sometimes think that if I didn't have these things, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I mean, after YEARS of constantly working on projects in what little spare time I have, when I decide not to do anything at all, I feel like a bum. Crazy, right?
Turns out, I think I might be addicted to this life. I try very hard to make time for everything, but I struggle, depending on what needs more attention at the time. There may be a time where I decide not to pursue all of my current ventures, but I can't bring myself to let anything go right now. So, please tell me I'm not the only one? Or am I? |
AuthorI'm a writer, a mother, a wife, a friend, a sister, and a daughter. My journey as a published author is in full swing and I'm inviting all my friends along for the ride! Archives
January 2024
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