Round Robin Blog Tour – Time to Read and Write

The alarm goes off at 6:30 AM every morning and I drag myself from bed just long enough to hit the snooze button. It’s a ritual at this point; no sooner has the Band of Brother’s soundtrack begun than I’ve cut it off, grumbling something incoherent before flopping back onto my pillow.

At this point the Orange Beast crawls onto my chest or back, depending on how I’ve landed, and begins pawing at my face until I pet him.

Ten minutes later the orchestra goes off again and I trudge over to my kitchen to start the coffee because, let’s face it, I just can’t function without at least one cup of coffee in me. Somewhere in the foggy minutes before the coffee is done brewing I manage to fill my kid’s bowl up with cereal and make the first call to get him out of bed.

I’ve learned not to put milk in the bowl until I see him emerge from his room, otherwise the cereal gets soggy.

I’ve also learned to dress myself first before making sure the child gets everything he needs for the day. Shoes, jacket, computer bag, school bag, lunch bags, and we’re off!

Most of the time I “read” books by listening to them via my iPad. I have an active Audible account but I do hunt for podio-books or other forms of audio books to listen to while I’m at my day job. For actual “sit-me-down-to-read” time I have to wait for my break.

Or there’s the bedtime story for the kiddo. We’ve been reading Star Wars novels lately but that’s bound to change.

In any case, my time is severely limited and I tend to focus on the audio books these days because it frees up my break for personal writing. I’ve found that if I use my break to write something then it sticks with me, ruminating in the back of my mind for the rest of the day so that, when the child has been bathed and put to bed, I can sit down and do my “real” writing.

“Real” writing is when I know I’m going to have uninterrupted blocks of time to dive into the work. Though, to be completely honest, these are very rare. I am a single parent and so there is no such thing as “uninterrupted” time anymore.

(AKA – He’s supposed to be in bed at 8:00PM but wanders out every now and then for water, a hug, or to tell me something his seven-year-old brain has determined is of the utmost importance.)

What I’ve discovered I have to do to get any work done is shove my headphones on, listen for 5 minutes to something orchestral like the Captain America Winter Soldier soundtrack or the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack or … you get it … with my fingers poised over the keyboard until I get into the groove again.

This is almost always interrupted by the child, who wants or needs my attention for something, and … frankly, can be quite frustrating sometimes. There are days I have to shut the whole thing down and go play with the kiddo. There are days when I get all of 500 words written.

But there are other days when I get 3,000 words written.

It’s alright, though. Words are written. Plots are discovered. Somehow I manage to meet my deadlines on time and my kiddo knows that there is nothing more important to me than he is.

I’m happy to roll with the punches so long as that fact remains embedded in his mind.

Check out what my fellow authors do to keep reading and writing a priority!

A.J. Maguire  https://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/ (YOU ARE HERE)
Geeta Kakade http://geetakakade.blogspot.com/
Margaret Fieland http://www.margaretfieland.com/blog1/
Skye Taylor  http://www.skye-writer.com/
Marci Baun  http://www.marcibaun.com/
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.com/
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Rita Karnopp  http://www.mizging@blogspot.com
Rachael Kosnski http://the-doodling-booktease.tumblr.com/
Helena Fairfax  http://helenafairfax.com/
Heidi M. Thomas http://heidiwriter.wordpress.com/
Ginger Simpson http://www.cowboykisses.blogspot.com/
Rhobin Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com/