Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Making Time

Buy Maggie's Secret Wish HERE

By Starla Kaye
I was catching up on reading some of the 1NS blogs and caught Heather Long’s “BeYourself” and Olivia Starke’s “Starving Authors.” They hit home with me in different ways and inspired me, I guess. Not that I’m carrying on with their thoughts, but more getting deeper into mine.

Life gets so absolutely crazy sometimes that we can’t possibly fit one more thing into our schedule. At least that is how I feel, especially lately. My terrific editors would like to see more work from me. My fans ask about sequels. My muse gets all excited and fills my head with a hundred different story ideas.

Fortunately I don’t work besides being a full-time author. Still there are community activities that I’m involved in that take the place of working and can almost be more demanding. One of my writers’ groups depends on me for leadership in so many of its projects, since I was a founding member many years ago. Another writers’ group would like to see me be involved again, if only I had the time. The seniors at my church seem to live for the monthly newsletter I do for them and get frustrated when it is occasionally a week late (I’ve been doing it for 18 years now). The cultural arts group I volunteer coordinate at a senior center would like me to go with them to their numerous outings (I don’t have their kind of stamina). The center’s director wants me to teach writing classes and about making art quilts.

And then there is my family. My BFF/daughter lives halfway across the country and likes me to come see her at least 3-4 times a year. My older brother in another state wants me to come see him. Two family reunions (different sides of my family) want me to join in their events. My sister tries to steal as much of my time as she can manage for going to gardening workshops, taking an exercise class with her, spending time together making art quilts, going to watch her teenagers play in tennis tournaments, and anything else she can come up with. My husband is really the only one of my family that doesn’t put demands on my time, especially this time of year. He’s an accountant (CPA) and he’s crazy busy now, too.

After listing all of that, I’m terrified, overwhelmed. How can I possibly meet all of those needs? How can I make everyone happy? Do you ever feel that way?

I guess what it comes down to is that so popular word today: prioritizing. Unfortunately, I’m not very good at that. I want to do it all. I want to make everyone happy. What about me?

Maybe I just need to fill the bathtub up with a nice steamy bath and lots of bubbles. Take in a glass of wine and my Kindle. Turn on some background music and tune out the world. Enjoy a nice long breather…and then emerge hopefully revived and ready to kick some serious ass, get into high gear again and be Super Woman.

In my first story with 1 Night Stand, Maggie’s Secret Wish, Maggie is a busy career woman. She’s struggled with relationships and is more comfortable with her work and dreaming about her fantasies. A part of her would like to see her “secret wish” come true, but she’s certain it won’t ever happen. But Madame Eve has other ideas about that…

10 comments:

  1. I decided to do a CONTEST too. Leave a comment and take a chance on winning a couple of small items to help you relax and get away from life's crazies for a bit. One lucky winner will receive a LITCHI ROSE soap bar and a small 2013 CALENDAR of breathtaking beaches.

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  2. There are never enough hours in the day! It makes me think about a book I read called The Gift - by Cecelia Ahern -the guy in that was sort of cloned so he could be at work, be at home, be at dinners etc He thought he'd solved his problem, but of course he hadn't! I wouldn't mind a clone to do the mundane stuff though - cleaning, cooking etc

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    1. I was just telling my husband this morning that I needed a few more hours in each day or maybe a few more days in each week. But then I doubt that would really help. We would just fill that extra time up with crazy stuff, too.

      I agree, though, that a clone would be nice to do the mundane stuff like cleaning, etc.

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  3. Don't worry, I'm the exact same way. I fret about these things all the time. How I managed to keep my head above water is beyond me.

    I'm pretty sure I have Maggie's Secret Wish. I've been so busy and then had the flu for 10 days that I haven't had a chance to read for weeks. :-( Now I'm playing catch-up on everything!

    bicknellbrown @sbcblogal .net

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    1. Unfortunately we all lead busy, wild lives. Sometimes I think how nice it would have been to live back in an older time period, less distractions, fewer demands on us. Yet unless you were wealthy, most people had a tremendous amount of things to do every day just to survive. I guess we just need how to figure out how to survive in our time period, in our own exhausting life.

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  4. I agree with Barbara! I need more time. Always! A clone just might be a good idea. All the best, Starla! :)

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    1. I think my publishers would enjoy having a clone of me (you, any writer) too. If you're selling well, they (and you) want to put out more books. And with being mainly an ebook/online author, we have to put out even more books than an author with an old fashioned paper publisher. We have to keep our names in front of the readers and they want something new all the time. (heavy sigh here)

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  5. I was just thinking tonight about this. I belong to our local Scouts committee and the other committee members are always willing to get up before the sun rises on a Saturday to do fundraisers which last the whole day and I'm skirting around them trying to get out of as many as possible. It made me find quite lazy. But then I got to thinking of my lifestyle and I thought that no-one else knows the burdens that another person has to carry from day to day. We all have different responsibilities and can only carry so much. We're wired differently. I also know that if I want to be a successful writer, that has to take priority over other things. Sometimes I just have to say no even when it makes me look unkind or unhelpful. Thanks for a lovely, timely post!

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  6. Yes, we all have to learn when to say "no" about things. It isn't always easy and we often feel guilty about doing so. At least I do. I still struggle with "no," as if it's a foreign word and I don't understand how to use it.

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  7. I'm happy to announce that Faith is my spur-of-the-moment contest winner.

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