I Make This Look Easy

...but it's really not. Balancing writing, full time desk job and family is a delicate juggling act. Am I complaining? Not one bit. I've learned to fit writing in where I can, I always have either my laptop or a notebook with me. I have a Blackberry so I can take care of emails and such pertaining to the business side of writing while I'm on the go. And needless to say, I'm on the go a lot.

I purposefully have a laptop so I can be mobile around my own house so I can work and still spend time with my family. On the same hand, there are times when I do have to focus and I keep an office space for those times. Multi-tasking is my best friend when it comes to making it all work.

The bottom line is really this--if you want to do "it" (fill in whatever it is that you want to do that you think you don't have enough time to do) you'll find the time. You'll make the adjustments in your life. You'll do whatever needs to be done to achieve "it". And it will be worth it because you worked even harder for it because you wanted it so much. There are no excuses. There is no "I don't have the time." or "I'll do it later." You'll either do it...or you won't.

So, in that line of thinking of multi-tasking and such - let me don the promo pants and do a little multi-tasking. I just had a book release on Monday. The second book in my science fiction romance series, Midnight's Shadow, is now available. And you can read the first chapter in its entirety over at my site.

It’s been months since the traumatic and life-altering events on Sulis. Wallace hasn’t been the same and Taran has spent her nights in an empty bed. When a stranger offers her the opportunity to pilot the extraordinary Spyridon—Taran refuses. There’s too much emotional turmoil in her life right now and the less complications, the better.

But Wallace has other ideas and seizes the opportunity without her knowledge. He deliberately sacrifices the one thing Taran loves unconditionally—Eidolon.

Now Taran finds herself captain of a starship that legend paints as haunted. Nothing is as it seems on a ship that appears to have a mind of its own. Forced to accept the consequences before her, Taran will have to put her faith in a man she doesn’t trust as she tries to win back the love of the man she does.

Cool as a Cucumber

You mean people cope with the insanity that is writing???

Oh, I mean. *cough* Yeah, I cope. Totally. I'm cool as a cucumber.

It's not like I worry every idea will be my last, or every contract will be my last, or every good review...you get the idea.

Writing is stressful. It's mega stressful. It's the biggest, most stressful thing most people will ever do.

I think the only way to remain a happy and healthy writer is to take breaks, know your limits, and pay attention to the voice in your head when it starts to sizzle instead of speak. You don't want to burn out.

For most writers, the spark that got us started was a love of books. So, take a break and read a couple of new books. See what your fellow writers are getting published so you have an idea of where the market's at (or was two years ago LOL). Either way, it's not a waste of time. It's research. And, it will refresh you.

Other options are taking walks or watching TV. Do something away from your computer for awhile. Don't think about deadlines or any other writing-related pressures. It's hard, but if you set aside a few minutes every week, you'll train yourself to be more receptive to relaxing during those times. It's a good thing.

For me, I read to recharge. I hang out with my hubby and play with my daughter. They keep me happy. I also chat with friends or hang out on writer/author forums. Anything to forget the pressure of being a writer and become a reader for a while.

Sometimes, it's nice to poke through a plot hole and not have to be the one to fix it. You know what  I mean?

How do I cope?

How do I write so many novels with three children under six? How do I accomplish my goals and make time for my family? How do I balance being a mother, wife, friend, and writer?

Sheesh.

Even writing these words are making my blood pressure rise because the truth is that there is no good way to do any of this. Everyone likes to talk about balance and I am a big believer in it but frequently it is easier said that done. Don't we all find that?

There are only a certain amount of hours in every day. My children have to come first. My oldest son has to get his homework done, my middle son has to be entertained, and the baby has to be tended to. I love my boys and that includes my husband who also deserves to have my time and attention. I also have to lose weight so a certain amount of time every day has to be devoted to exercise, whether I want it to or not. I also love my friends. When possible, I like to see them.

But, I'm luckier than most because my day job keeps me at home with my children which means that with some help and some luck I can do my job and write. It is the writers who are working a full time day job outside of the home, raising their children, and writing who I am in awe of. How do they do it?

Because as difficult as my balancing act is...I know it could be so much more difficult. The short answer to the question above, how do I cope, is that I have a lot of help.

Chicken With Her Head Cut Off

Writing, life, and everything is something I didn't consider when I embarked on this published author journey. When I started writing, I wasn't working and had plenty of time, so wrote whenever the time presented. Basically, my writing revovled around my life.

Things got better, I got healthy enough to return to work, and all my extra time disappeared but I had this new wonderful hobby I didn't want to give up. It took a few months to figure out a delicate balance between family, work, and writing.

My solution to all my problems was simple. A notepad. Every moment during the day that's not occupied I write. That means I have to be an OCD plotter. Every conflict, goal, motivation, each chapter's points of interest is listed so when I pick up my pad I can scan as to where the hell I was and continue.

It's nuts.

On the weekends, late at night, I type in what I've written and CP chapters with other authors to hone my skills.

What is your schedule like?

PS: Happy Birthday Mom

This week at Paranormal Romantics our theme question is, Life, Writing, and Everything. How do we cope?

Keeping my priorities straight...that’s how I cope. I love writing and sharing my stories, but my family always comes first. It’s a funny thing really. I’m not a plotter when it comes to writing, yet I plan my life like you’d not believe. My daughter is in school full time and my son goes to preschool three mornings a week. So, that is the time I use to write. Trying to get anything done with the little ones around is impossible so I don’t even bother attempting it. I do revisions and edits when we have some movie time and the kids are preoccupied. But I never try and write anything new when they’re around, because I just can’t concentrate enough to really get into it.

Normally, I try to only work during those hours my kids are in school to make sure that I’m spending time with the hubby too. However, January was probably the busiest month I’ve had yet. I really hadn’t planned it that way, but for some reason I got bombarded with edits―four stories in one month plus trying to wrap up the spin-off series for the Magical Sword, The Enchanted Sight. Needless to say, it was kinda crazy and I didn’t have much down time. My hubby had zilch of my attention, so I have some making up to do for that. J

Here are two of the stories that came from my insanely busy month which release next week!!

SILENT HOWL
The Blue Bloods ~ Book Two

Liquid Silver Books ~ February 7, 2011

When murder threatens innocent lives, will one woman unleash the wolf within her or hide behind the human that cowers in fear.

Rynn Murphy is a werewolf and she is in a state of bliss―her junkie parents are in recovery for their drug addiction. Her Grandfather, Pops, suffering from Alzheimer’s has settled into a nursing home in Utah. And she has just witnessed the bonding ceremony of her friends, Nexi and Kyden from the Otherworld. With her mate, Briggs by her side, life can’t get any better…

But this happiness is about to end as Rynn is brought to Philadelphia. As a Blue Blood Werewolf, she has been given a special gift to possess a strong scent. And after horrific murders take place in the Pennsylvania territory, Rynn must use this ability to seek the killer out…

This task does not come easily, Rynn is struggling. The human in her flees from danger. The wolf in her is desperate to end his murderous rampage. Rynn must reconcile these two halves while these murders begin to cross State lines. Soon, danger will be all around them, and Rynn will have to decide what is more important―the human who remains in her or the wolves she has sworn to protect…

WHISPERS OF EVIL
The Watchers ~ Book Two

Cobblestone Press – February 11, 2011

Nayeli has been locked away, hidden from the world in a mental institution, all due to the whispers of evil which have corrupted her mind. Unbeknownst to her, the voices that have plagued her are a gift given to only one kind―Watchers.

Griffin, her Seeker, is about to break this cage of imprisonment woven around her and give her a new chance at life. But when a demon leaves the confines of Hell to create havoc in Louisiana, will his love for Nayeli free her wounded heart, or will she succumb to the whispers which threaten to steal her soul?

*WARNING: Explicit sex between a timid Watcher and a gorgeous Seeker, and a ceremony that will certainly raise eyebrows!

Website - www.staceykennedy.com

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100000956942180

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3473046.Stacey_Kennedy

Twitter - http://twitter.com/Stacey_Kennedy

My Favorite Characters

I love so many it's hard to choose.

But if you twist my arm, I'd say one of my favorites is from a WIP, and perhaps the darkest story I've ever written, Clone. This character makes me step outside my comfort zone when I write. When I work on the story, told in first person from the character's POV--the rose colored lens come off and the gloves go on. Meet Eva--a clone and slave of the president of Europia.

Eva is a monster--a sociopath. Now before you say anything, let me explain why I picked her. Eva gives me the chance to dig deep into human nature, to explore areas most want to forget, or don't want to discuss. Eva exists in a world where she was created for the purpose of human survival. All her life she has suffered abuse at the hands of her keepers. She has been beaten, raped. Her blood, tissue and unborn babies have been harvested to further the lives of those born into the world, those who are not clones, those who are sick from a nuclear winter brought on by violent wars. Her life has never been her own. She is nothing more than body parts and free labor to society.

When doctors choose to harvest her heart to save her keeper's daughter, Eva strikes back and murders the doctors and nurses in the O.R., and in the process, she learns that she isn't helpless. She flees across the border and into the arms of Dante, a revolutionary bent on freeing the clones and releasing the world from a dictator's grip. Through Dante, Eva gets the chance to take everything she ever wanted--to step into the life of her Keeper, and of whom she is an exact duplicate. The training and brain downloads begin. Eva starts a metamorphosis.

But what happens when you put someone into power who's never learned of human love, warmth, and they lack the basic ability to feel compassion? 

I stared off the balcony at the mass below. They’d gathered in the courtyard because of the riots and violence in the streets. The wanted my sympathy, my reassurance things would continue on as usual, that the towers they’d built for themselves would not crumble.


My first in command stood behind me. “Madam President? You need to come down off the edge.”


An edge. A precipice. An ending to my pain. I planned to come down, but not as he intended. He knew I held the codes in my head and was desperate to retrieve them.


“They’re free,” I said.


“Madam President,” he called again. The wind whipped tendrils of my hair loose and beat it into my eyes. My clothing snapped around me like a banner in a hurricane. For the first time in my life I knew my purpose. I had no fears. Death came to all. It was my time.


“You need to come down. Your country needs you. The people are frightened and I don’t know what to tell them. They’re afraid of a rebellion. There have been murders, clones that have somehow broken free of their safety girdles.”


“Indeed,” I said. “Not somehow,” I murmured into the roaring crowd. Hundreds of thousands were free of their bonds and tasting freedom as I had for the first time. No, I had freed them and the people of Europia would reap the acts they’d paid upon them.


“I know you’ve lost your daughter, your husband. It’s a tragedy, but the people need you. You must come down. You’re their leader. What do I tell them to reassure them their safety?”


I turned and gave him a blank stare. “Why, let them eat cake.” With that, I free fell, forward into the open air taking the codes with me that would stop the rebellion. As two hundred floors rushed by, I replayed my life--what there was of it worth remembering.

Now, for a character I love from another author. Again, so many it's tough. I'm going to have to go with the tongue and cheek humor of Harry Dresden from the Dresden Files, written by Jim Butcher. I love Harry, the only wizard in the Chicago phonebook, a man that just doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.

Told in first person, Jim really brings Harry to life as he jumps from frying pans to fires, hopscotching his way through trouble and cases that only he can solve. With the help of his apprentice Molly, his dog Mouse, his cat, Mister and advice from a spirit that resides in a skull called, Bob, he manages to find trouble and get out of it, usually in one piece but severely damaged. For the sheer tenacity of this character, not to mention the LOL moments, I name Harry as one of my personal favs.

So, that's it. My two favorite characters, and why. Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a free read from Sara Brookes.

Thanks for stopping by,

D L

Characters We Love

Selfishness. Individualism. Thumb your nose at the world and its bureaucracy. Live life on your own terms, and to hell with everyone else’s. The stuff heroes are made of. Who is John Galt? He’s my all-time favorite character, Atlas Shrugged, my favorite book. I’m not sure how Ayn Rand would feel about me epitomizing John Galt as a romance hero. Here’s a bit of the John Galt speech --


“We're on strike against your creed of unearned rewards and unrewarded duties. If you want to know how I made them quit, I told them exactly what I'm telling you tonight. I taught them the morality of Reason -- that it was right to pursue one's own happiness as one's principal goal in life. I don't consider the pleasure of others my goal in life, nor do I consider my pleasure the goal of anyone else's life. I am a trader. I earn what I get in trade for what I produce. I ask for nothing more or nothing less than what I earn. That is justice. I don't force anyone to trade with me; I only trade for mutual benefit.”

I love this man, and how he thinks. Though many see Atlas Shrugged as a purely philosophical statement, I make no apology to Ayn Rand, her memory, or her followers, for seeing John Galt as the greatest romantic hero ever—at least in my mind. There you have it.

After 50+ years, someone has decided to tackle this as a movie project which will release this April. I’ve read that you’ll never see John Galt…and I don’t want to. No one could adequately portray what he means to me. I’m sure others, who embrace the character for whatever reason, feel the same.

My own favorite character, well, let me give you a few of his lines:

“If you even breathe the air she expels, I’ll smell it on you. If I do, I’ll rip your heart out and make you eat it for dinner.”

…and more:

“You know what, right now I don’t give a damn who or what you are, and you can shove the Fates so far up your ass, they never see daylight again.” There was going to be hell to pay, but Phoenix didn’t give a shit. “Let me tell you what I do understand. I’m connected to that vamp you unceremoniously dumped out of my house. His kind made me--and your kind let it happen.” Red pinpoints of light leaped from his eyes and bounced around the room scorching the walls. Tendrils of smoke carried the stench of burning wood into the air. “You been trying to clean this mess up for thousands of years and it only took him two decades to find something your people couldn’t.” Phoenix leaned so close to the man-like creature in front of him, their noses almost touched. “You cold bastard, do you even understand what it’s like to have something you love, something you’ve waited for your whole life, taken from you? Do you?" A ragged laugh burst from his mouth, his lips curled in disdain. "Didn't think so. Until you do, don’t come to my home again. I’ve had enough of you fucking angels.”

That’s Phoenix in a nutshell—if only I’d finish the dang story. He’s appeared briefly in a few books, but he had so much to say, he’s grown into novel length…and I don’t do novels. I’m working on whittling him down to novella size, and he’s not cooperating. Hopefully, one day we’ll see eye-to-eye--it's the only way he'll see the light of day!

Growl and roar-it's okay to let the beast out.-© J. Hali Steele

Torturing the Tortured

Oh to pick favorites. I do love a tortured hero. A lot. But we'll get to that in a minute when I talk about one of mine. First, one of my favorite female characters from someone else.

Joanna Archer.

She. Kicks. Ass.

She's the lead character in Vicki Pettersson's Signs of the Zodiac series. If you've never heard of them, they're dark fantasy and combine fantasy, superheroes and paranormal romance--but there isn't always a HEA. It works off the premise there's another world under the neon layer of Sin City (Las Vegas) where Light and Shadow battle. And Joanna is in the middle of it whether she likes it or not. Problems is, Joanna Archer's dead--at least that's what everyone else has to think. Right from the get go, we're shown Joanna has a lot going against her and get to journey with her as she tries to overcome the remains of "her" life. It's a struggle and she isn't always successful. She's not perfect, which is the kind of character I like to read.

Now as far as loving the tortured hero. I love bad boys, too. Anti-heroes. Tall, dark and damn dangerous. I'll take a few please! But, since I have to pick one of mine, I have to go with Wallace Grey, from my Star Runner Saga books. Why? Well, the man slaughtered an entire crew of a spaceship and didn't--and never will--apologize for it. He went to jail, did his time...sorta...but he has absolutely no regrets about it. Not a one. Sure, it's pretty brutal, but if you knew why...can you say puddle at his feet?

As if that wasn't enough, I just recently finished up work on Midnight's Shadow, the next book in the series and it'll be released later this month. Wallace's problems haven't been solved by any means. In fact, I think they've increased ten fold. Just when I thought he couldn't get more tortured...yeah, poor guy.

*G*

What about ya'll? Do you like 'em tortured, shattered and broken or not? One of my books (your choice!) is up for grabs here this week!

Addicted to Pain

I’ll admit it. I’m addicted to broken heroes. I like them dark and teetering on the edge beyond redemption. Since I read primarily paranormal and urban fantasy novels, I’m cool with them being vicious and bloodthirsty. Sometimes a scrap of humanity is better than the whole human, you know? 

One of my favorites is Thomas Raith from the Dresden Files.

I ache for knowing he’ll never feel the slide of his lover’s skin against his again. 

It wasn’t always that way. And his memories of the past, the ones of Justine—before he loved her—are all he’ll ever have. He wants to believe it would’ve been better if he’d realized he loved her sooner, so he could have savored their time together. But he knows that’s not true. Once he realized he loved her, it was over. Physical intimacy is a thing of their past. They’ve accepted that. The question is…how long can you love someone you can’t touch? 

(Loved this picture of him. See more here.)

As for my favorite hero…hmm…it’s a tie between Aiden Campbell (Blood Tithe) and Nathaniel Berwyn (Wicked Kin). I’m a little obsessed with Aiden’s world. I’m asked often if I still plan to publish his story. I have to say—not yet. Give me a year or so to grow as a writer, then I’ll tackle that first draft and make him shine. When I turn him loose on the world, he will be wearing his best suit. As for Nathaniel, well, he’s caught up in submission at the moment.

This is probably my favorite summation of Nathaniel’s character: (In his own words.)

The hardened Weaver of Souls, collector of debts mortals owed to the divine, had shirked his duty, broken his oaths, failed in his loyalties, and lacked the sense to be terrified of the repercussions.

Character Love!

For this week's theme, we at Paranormal Romantics are writing about characters we love. One that we've written ourself and one that someone has written.

It was really hard for me to come up with a character that I loved that I had written. It felt a little bit like asking me to choose which one of my children I love best. (Something I absolutely could not do.) But, finally I decided to talk about Rachel Clancy. Who is Rachel Clancy, you might ask? She is the heroine of my first person young adult narrative.

Why have I picked her? Because one way or another, Rachel has been with me a very long time. She was in many books until her individual story came to me. I've known her a long time. I admire her and I wish I had possessed her strength when I was sixteen. You can read Rachel's story, starting February 2nd. TOMORROW! She is tough, funny, and better than even she can imagine she is.

Now, as for a character that I admire in another book? That was also very hard. I read so many amazing characters and I LOVE to read so it really was very hard. Finally, I picked Merry Gentry from Laurell K. Hamilton's series. I know a lot of people have read Anita Blake, Laurell's other series and I love that character too but I chose Merry because she seems incredibly adept at managing a lot of hard stuff going on at the same time. Also, I find myself getting lost in Merry's world in a way I do not with any other fictional character. So, that is why I picked Merry Gentry.

How about all of you? What characters do you admire?