Distractions, Distractions -- an IWSG Post
Posted on July 2, 2018

The Box of Souls and The Onyx Ring, books 1 and 2 in the Family Relics series, are now out and being marketed all the way to Neptune and back. Well, sort of. That's the hard part for me, the marketing part. I've done some, and have seen results, but seriously, back to writing book three.

So there I am at the start of June, outlining, taking notes, writing scenes out of sequence that will soon be plugged into order, listing bullets of backstory, character detailing, and doing all sorts of creative work. Chugging away. Generating smoke on my keyboard through incessant typing as my thoughts find their way down to the tips of my fingers.

And then . . . I get close to my 8-minute average 5K goal!

I have had a solid 9+ minute average 5k for years, and I was getting tired of not progressing, and sometimes getting worse. So I started high intensity interval training, and in just a few months it helped reduce my time by 2 minutes! I became obsessed with hitting my goal and doubled my training two months ago. It's like a drug. I can't just let it go. I'm so so close. And of course, this takes me away from writing.

First of 3 intervals.
I get considerably slower after the first one.

And then . . . the World Cup starts.

I've never watched so much soccer in my life! Traveling to and fro from my parents house to watch the games (because they're the biggest soccer fans in New Jersey), watching with my son whenever he says, "Mom, you have to see this move!", which is often, and catching all the replay videos, memes, articles of wins and losses . . . I've transformed into a true soccer fan. Less writing overall since the games started mid June.

My son and my dad ready for the Argentina vs. Iceland game.
It's a tradition.

And now . . . the kids are out of school!! This means family visits, day trips, keeping kids busy so they don't become vegetable zombies in front of a screen, and lots of stuff that pull me away from writing, publishing, marketing and other indie author activities.

Even now it's taken me longer than normal to write this post because I did it while watching a 55-year-old woman compete on American Ninja Warrior, my son's favorite show. She didn't make it far, but it made me rethink my decision of NOT giving ninja warrior training a try. I love that kind of stuff, but at 40-something-something, it's a bit scary. One bad fall and I'm in a sling or cast for weeks, maybe months. Of course I lost at least 30 minutes researching correlation between obstacle course injuries and age of participants. But that's at topic for another post...

See how easy it is to get distracted? **shakes head**

So I knew summer was coming with all of these distractions and I worked it into my schedule for the next book in the series. I'm predicting Q2 2019 release. But, who knows what other distractions will move that date further. I don't stress dates as I used to. I roll with the punches, dust myself off and keep on running.

How do you manage distractions? Do you just go with the flow or do you battle to keep things on schedule. And if you're still keeping up with the World Cup, who are you rooting for?

~ * ~
This post is part of
Insecure Writers Support Group
blog hop.

Support your writers, no matter how distracted they get.

Look! Squirrel!




10 comments:

  1. LOL! Yup. That's my goal too--to just keep moving. As long as I'm making some progress, I'll call it good. Home schooling, babying and toddlering enough to do me in right now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a truckload of responsibilities!!! You must have super distraction-deflecting powers to handle all of that, and squeeze in writing! As Dori from Finding Nemo said, just keep swimming.

      Delete
  2. I've been letting the distractions win. First it was helping my daughter pass her regent's exams in algebra and biology. Now it's a huge garden project. There's also a house full of junk to organize (and a deadline of late summer if my parents come to visit). So I haven't been writing. But I'd like to.

    That running time is amazing by the way. I feel great if I can run a ten minute mile. It takes me an hour to run five.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Baby steps Tamara! I once ran a 12 minute mile too! It's like anything else, you only get better with practice.

      You just reminded me of my father in law's visit next week. I have to get the basement bedroom cleaned out for his stay. Adding another distraction to the list!! :-D

      Delete
  3. If you are training that hard and running that fast, who's to say you couldn't do Ninja Warrior?
    Even with all of the distractions though you still have a new book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I might give it a go, but with loads of caution. At one point I thought it was too late to write, and then I started and here I am. So, who knows...

      Delete
  4. Oh, running! At first I thought you meant 5k words in 8 minutes, in which case you would be a machine. I'm still bowled over, I couldn't do that much! I do think we need to let things go a bit in summer, especially when it comes to spending time with the kids, and we also need to be flexible and know we can readjust goals. BTW, I'm English but can't cheer for them cos I live in Scotland... will be secretly chuffed if they get through though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can you imagine 5k words in 8 minutes?!?!?! Where's that training program? Sign me up!

      And England is heading to the quarterfinals. :-D

      Delete
  5. First of all, I LOVE your covers. They're gorgeous. So professional!

    I've been distracted from writing by a new teaching gig. I'm beset with guilt. It's a horrible feeling.

    My boyfriend is British, so soccer has been a big topic of conversation around here too. Go, England!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally missed this response, and so am replying disgustingly late. Damn those distractions!

      Teaching is always worth while, any topic. Just knowing that someone is learning something from you... that's got to be a good feeling.

      Delete


FREE eBook!
Get your copy of
The Box of Souls
for FREE!




Follow Me









Search Blog Archives