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Finding Time to Write with Four Kids

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I started my author journey in 2012. Many people didn’t understand why I wanted to write or how I could enjoy it. Writing can be a very solitary pursuit. One that could take you away from more, dare I say it, mundane tasks.

So, naturally if writing takes me away from every day mundane tasks, one would assume that it could quite easily take me away from my children. Not so. And, it doesn’t have to. It took me quite a few years, early on in my writing journey, before I even got published – when my kids were babies – to find the balance. However, I can successfully say, with the utmost confidence, that I have found a way to both write and be present in my kids lives. Now if only I could find a way to both write and keep on top of all those mundane household tasks that often fall to the way side while I be mum to my kids, I think I’d be set.

Now my kids are twelve, ten, nine and seven and parenting is a bit more challenging now than when they were babies, but I found some things that work for me, and keep me from feeling too overwhelmed.

Here’s five tips I employ in order to write around household chores and FOUR children.

  1. You have to make time for yourself and your writing. Write when the kids are in bed at night. Or get up early and write while every else is still asleep.
  2. Write everyday. I cannot stress this enough. Even if it’s only 10 words. Write!
  3. Get your kids involved with the household chores. That way you’ll have time to write.
  4. Use a schedule, and stick to it!
  5. Get enough sleep! A grumpy mum is no good to anybody, let alone your kids.

I hope you find these tips as helpful as I have!

Withholding Nothing Cover Reveal

⭐️⭐️⭐️COVER REVEAL⭐️⭐️⭐️
Woot woot! Today’s Victoria Bright’s 27th birthday and her cover reveal!
Title: Withholding Nothing
Genre: Erotic romance
Release date: March 29, 2018
Photographer: Eric Battershell Photography
Models: Xavisus Gayden Ifbb Pro and Sarah Arevalo Gayden
Cover designer: Laura Hidalgo with Beyond DEF
Blurb: The girl code “Chicks before d*cks” should include that no friend can steal another friend’s boyfriend—or marry them.
When Ashton Carter’s “good idea at the time” revenge plan lands her in hot water, she never expected to see her ex again—especially in court. A few thousand dollars in damages later, she snags a job as a phone sex operator and seeks out a roommate to help fund her “stay out of jail” expenses. Having a roommate should’ve been helpful—except when they turn out to be the hot, yet douchebag mechanic working on her car.
When Ashton learns that her new roommate has been the sexy phone sex caller, lines begin to blur between real life and fantasy. It was supposed to be a no-strings-attached situation; neither of them were ready for love again. When a surprise visit from an ex shakes their forming foundation with an ultimatum, Ashton is forced to face the truth of her feelings and make a choice. With her budding relationship and livelihood at stake, Ashton has to untangle the lines of reality and fantasy in a last ditch effort to protect her heart.
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Day 2

So, the second day of NaNoWriMo got off to a slow start, but by ten o’clock I had written 1707 words and surpassed my quota, despite not catching up to the overall quota.

The story so far has quite a few holes, and the death tally is at one. Sorry Eirian, I’m sure you were a good kid, but I need some drama to push the story forward, and suffice to say it worked. And without your death, I never would have learned that Cassian had an older brother named Julian who died young, or just how uncaring Queen Beatrix really is.

Still not sure whether this story is contemporary romance or if it could have potential in another genre.

What can I say, I love writing fae, and I’m not convinced I couldn’t turn this story into a paranormal romance.

Overall tally…

2754.

Hallowe’en

So the last few months have been a wash with the nightmare that was moving, but we’re finally settled and I can now get back into writing and blogging without feeling pulled in a thousand different directions.

As for my writing, I’ve got two stories on the back burner awaiting submission and two more to write.

November is looming and with it comes NaNoWriMo. Something which I’m not ready for.

And I’ve also got another writing endeavour in the works which I’ll share more about in the coming weeks.

Tonight, however, I’m planning on taking my kids trick or treating and pigging out on way to much junk food. Assuming they share, that is.

A Complete Wash

So, July is over and my word count was quite pitiful to say the least. I’ve yet to update my tally. I started off strong, but by the halfway mark it was all downhill.

That was actually thanks to finding myself in the Emergency Room with chest pain, on top of a bad cold.

I spent several hours being poked and prodded only to find out I had Pneumonia, which I’m just now seeing the end of.

It definitely wasn’t how I saw my July ending up.

Turns out, that sometimes a cold is not just a cold.

Fingers crossed, August’s numbers fair better.

THE LEGENDS OF THE FAERIE QUEENS : by Stacey Jaine McIntosh

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Faerie queens! Once nameless, but now known through time by many names.

Titania. Mab. Gloriana. Tanaquill. Oona. Elphame. Maeve. Rhiannon. Fand. The list seems endless.

Are they good or bad, big or small, fair or dark? And why do they enchant us? Faerie Queens have appeared in folklore throughout the English-speaking world, as far back as the mid-1500s. Although faeries themselves are said to be found worldwide.

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I’ve long been fascinated by faeries and my love affair them, began with Queen Mab in the 1998 tele-miniseries Merlin. I liked the way she refused to be forgotten and the way her story wove into the lives of  Arthur’s and Morgan’s. It made me want to delve deeper. It was the beginning of my discovery of a whole other path. It opened my eyes to Paganism as well as kindled my desire to learn more about my own Welsh ancestry. It gave…

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Chasing Magic

Well May is drawing to a close less productive then I was hoping it would be.

Two short stories I had planned on sending out are sitting unfinished.

And I haven’t finished the redraft of a novel, either.

Chasing Magic hit Amazon and readers appear to like it, which is good.

Now to make the most of June.