Interruptions?  Hardly an unknownof situation for writers.  A big part of the situation (notice that I didn’t call it a problem) is that the vast majority of us work from home.  Unless we can bar the door behind us (and my office doesn’t have a door, just stairs), life is going to reach us.

I’m in the middle of working on a new proposal for something I haven’t attempted in a long time, a straight romantic suspense with none of the erotica that’s paying the bills these days.  The research alone took a couple of weeks, in part because I get distracted when I’m doing same online, in part because I wanted to read several nonfiction books on a couple of topics, in part because I have three major characters to bring to life.  I don’t know how long I’ve spent on what is currently a five page synopsis, a lot longer than most people would guess if they read those ’simple’ pages.  

Yesterday I’d intended/hoped I’d finish the rough draft of the third and final chapter for the proposal and had a pretty good idea how I was going to work it.  The timeframe was important to me because my family’s going to be out of town for the 4th weekend and there won’t be any alone time for writing.  I wanted to go into the celebration (and a couple of meetings) with a semi-clear head.  Knowing I’d be coming back to revisions instead of straight creating would put me in another mindset, and I was looking forward to it.

Then life happened.  It started with an unexpected but precious phone call from a dear friend while I was eating breakfast.  I don’t know how many more if any conversations I’ll have with her because cancer is winning and she’s now in hospice.  We talked for an hour, the words coming slow and slurred from her as a result of the powerful pain meds she’s on.  Her brilliant (180 IQ) mind is still there but tamped down.  After the call I had trouble switching gears and getting into the writing mode so decided to email some mutual friends about Pat.  A couple immediately emailed back and I responded, etc, etc.  Then both of my sons called, twice each and of course being a MOM I gave them my full attention.

Surprisingly soon it was time to take my 90 year old mother out for lunch, accompanied by my husband who moves at a much slower pace than I do.  By the time we were done,  nearly three hours had passed and it was nearly time to shuttle my youngest son’s vehicle from one place to another so he and his son could raft the nearby river. (Of course I’d said yes to his request earlier in the day.  I’m a MOM and GRANDMA)  Following the shuttle I hearded for the gym for an hour.  I’m in the process of rebuilding my sad body following double hip replacements this spring so strength training is necessary.

Whew.  Coming up on 5 p.m. and by then my upstairs office was over 80 degrees.  No work getting done under those conditions.

So there you are.  A day’s plans for writing out the window.  I’m good with the decisions I made that took me away from my initial goal, but its going to happen again just as those interruptions have happened in the past.  A part of me is chomping to get back to the romantic suspense.  A part feels disconnected from it and reconnecting is going to take time, darn it.

Despite those stumbling points, something good happened this week.  In early June I had a Loose-Id release Storm Howl.  I mention that because my editor and I have been working on revisions for the sequel, Wind Howl.  The second round revisions (which will only take a few minutes) are sitting in my inbox and I have a release date of late Aug.  Or rather that was the date as of earlier in the week.  Now I’m hearing that might be bumped up.  Ykes, no doubt about it.  As soon as the above mentioned proposal is out of my hair, its time to get going on #3 in the Howl series.

Happy 4th everyone!!!  I’m going to be spending mine at the family cabin in the woods next to a lake complete with fireworks the younger generation will watch from a couple of boats.  How about you?  What’s on tap for you for the 4th?

Vonna

www.VonnaHarper.com