Doing Your Research

How do you research an article or a book? Do you research before or after you write the proposal? Do you know your 'stuff' inside and out?

With my second book, the one on Green Horsekeeping, I admit, I did not know the topic inside and out. I knew quite a bit, but during my research, I learned A LOT.

The first part of the book talks about the history of horses on the planet. This can be a tough subject to navigate when you're a creationist, believe you me. But being a "creationist" does not necessarily mean I don't believe in natural selection and some forms of evolution. I don't believe that there's one camp or the other and that you have to plant your flag in your chosen belief camp forever.

So I did some research. I'm curious, for those who believe in evolution, have you ever ACTUALLY READ Darwin's Origin of the Species? I mean cover to cover. You can download it here. It's a fascinating read and even starts off quite good. He references God in the early quotations and says, paraphrasing, that man should be as knowledgable about God's book as he is about God's works. I like that.

He also goes on to say in the very introduction that Origin of the Species is not a finished work. It's his abstract - his initial insights - and that the fullness of his work will take many years. In the introduction he states clearly that there are errors, that it's imperfect and that he has basicially no references to back up some of his statements. He doesn't go anywhere near human evolution except to say that we'll know more later as we learn... He was not an athiest, but more of an agnostic. He questioned God, as I believe we all do at many times in our lives. He saw God as a bit more of a programmer of laws than a creator.

Now Darwin's research has been discussed at great length for many years, it has evolved (har har) and people use the term Darwinism without really knowing who Darwin was and what his beliefs were. That's sad, because I think he was really on to something beautiful and complex and I think that if HE could have finished his work fully without the illnesses and hear problems, Darwinism would have meant something different from what it does today.

At the very least, it's helped me win a few arguments with my athiest friends and family members. :)

Now where was I... oh yes, doing your research. I think that now that we have Wikipedia and Google, we forget about the vastness of what came before. We forget to actually READ Origin of Species before we start referencing it. We think we know what it's about because we read the Coles Notes version in high school. Or skimmed it. We know that the people with the fish on the back of their cars are Christians and the people with the walking fish on the back of their cars, are not.

But I challenge you to go beyond. To not research by way of the wikis and the search engines. Actually read the books. Wade through their thick pages with their complex sentances and read what the writers before you actually said.

You can start with Origin of Species if you like. It really is fascinating!

(Crossposted at the Writing Mother)

$elling

Recently I posted over at The Writing Mother about being a salesperson and a writer. Personally, I think that you absolutely have to be a salesperson to be a successful writer. You can be a writer without a sales bone in your body, but if you want to be a success (as defined in a financial term) then you need to SELL what you write.

I'm wondering... what do you think of that? Do you think it's hard/easy/impossible to sell your writing? What sort of objections to you encounter?

Very Excited

Tomorrow I should be able to download the layout for my Green Horse book. My job is to go over all the text and sketches and make sure that all is kosher. I also have to add some content and have chosen to add a reader's application guide. This was my idea so that 4H groups and other horse-related groups around North America can USE the book, not just read it. But that's so intimidating to even think of... I've never created a reader's guide before. Then again, I'd never written an 85K book before and I did that without dying.

On another great note, the second half of my advance check (or cheque as we say in Canada) is making its way to me from my agent's office. And wouldn't you know it, I have something that needs buying.

Back in November some jerk hit my car. I'm sure he's not a jerk to everyone, but he sure let me know what he thought of me. I (for once in my life) kept my mouth shut and let him babble and then drove off and filed my police report. He was at fault and his insurance company accepted full responsibility. (Note to jerk, after you hit someone, it's not usually a good idea to blame them for not "getting out of" your way.)

Long story short, his insurance company has decided to write off my car because it's old and not worth fixing. It has a cracked quarter panel, that's it. What made me most angry was the fact that we don't get a choice in the matter. Even if I said "ok, I changed my mind, no claim, walking away... kthxbai..." I have no choice. His insurance company WILL be de-registering my car.

I've decided to look on the bright side and say "hey, my advance check is coming and we have good credit... AND it's the best time to buy a car." We're looking at maybe even buying new, I'm thinking a Dodge Caravan, but that's because my secret plan is to have another child eventually and we need the room!

What feels really good right now is having something to put my advance check to that benefits my family directly. Lately Major Man has had something in his craw about how much my company makes and how much I rely on our credit card to "float" my business. I just haven't gotten around to get a business credit card and I suck at accounting and bookkeeping so it's never really evident what is going where.

I think one of the things I'd like to do in 2009 is get a good bookkeeper or accountant!

This Chaps My Butt

Yet again, another author has been found guilty of being a lying liar pants on fire. And again, it's with Miss Oprah.

"On December 27, 2008, Herman Rosenblat admitted to fictionalizing portions of his life story, including how he met his wife. Based on this admission, the publisher of his forthcoming memoir — Angel at the Fence — canceled plans to print his book."

I wonder why she even has her book club. Oh, I forgot, to highlight the books SHE likes. I'm still holding a grudge against her after she made a comment about there being a lack of good books being published today and that's why she was choosing older, "classic" books. Perhaps she simply reads the books and decides what will have the best STORY. To do that, of course, she has to make it about the writer.

But most writers I know don't want it to be about them. I certainly don't want to sit and chat about me, me, me when it's about the book. The book sells the book... not the writer.

What are your thoughts?

Just keep writing, just keep writing...

The end of the year is always a time for reflection. Sometimes when we reflect on our past, we don't always like what we see. Maybe we're going through a rough time or maybe we just didn't accomplish what we wanted to. This can color the future for us. It can change our rose colored glasses into dingy grey glasses.

This is especially true for those who might be prone to depression, have seasonal affected disorder or maybe even expectations that are too high. Note I'm not talking about anyone in particular here, though I could be referencing myself. I'm not really a depressive-type of person, but I am definitely prone to some hormonally induced mood swings!

I was looking for some uplifting material to post here at the end of 2008 when I came across a guest blogger, Jeanette Hanscome, who was blogging at Tricia Goyer's site. Jeanette has had some health issues and has had to pray and re-evaluate some of her goals.

Her decision? Just keep writing. It helps if you say it like Dori would. :)

Go ahead and click on that link above and I hope you find some encouragement there!

Writing Goals for 2009

Well, it's that time again, isn't it? The time when we sit down and gather our thoughts . . . reflect over what we have done in the past year and set goals for the coming year. I can't say that they are resolutions, I don't know if I like that word or not, I much prefer the term "goals".

I try to set business goals that are specific. Like $1000 per month. But since I have sold these two books, I have to look at my goals differently. I can't hit the $1000 a month because I don't have the time to write the extra articles. But with my book proposals I can average $1000 a month, it's just paid in lump sums.

Also, I have goals to set at my full time sales job. I'm a sales manager and I work with a team of 9 salespeople. My portfolio does about $1,000,000 in sales per year and it definitely takes some planning to accomplish.

We do something called KSS. Something you are going to Keep/Start/Stop. But it's too vague for my writing.

I need something specific, a goal to hit each week. Or even goals. I've long since stopped querying (not enough time, too much to do!) and I worry that I won't have time to actually write the articles I query.

What about you? Do you have specific writing related goals? Care to share?

The Return of the To Do List

Recently I blogged about having a lot of things on the go ... specifically related to my book's pending release. For the past year I've gotten away from doing a "to do" list, but now I feel compelled to start up again. Now excuse the yucky colouring in the picture... silly yellowish lighting in my office (didn't seem that yellow!) but this is the list... due by Christmas.

I try to put an inspirational quote up on the list and this time I'm going for some tough love. It says "It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what is required." (Churchill)

This reminds me to just shut up and write.

So I'm going to do that now.

To-Do, To-Do, To-Do

With the upcoming release of my book, The Green Guide for Horse Owners and Riders, I have a few things on the "to do" list of my writing duties:

- figure out a good domain name (I'm considering EquineGreenGuide.com)
- decide on what prize to offer for the "pre-order" contest
- get a logo done up for the book for t-shirts and such (suppose I could choose the domain name!)

I'm really fortunate that I work in a day job that does logo and embroidery application, but I need to find a designer to create the logo.... and I'm sure I should run it by the publisher as well.

Because this is the first book that I'm going to have published, I am doing everything for the first time. I need to find a balance between spending money to make money and just waiting for money to roll in. (hahaha) Because this publishing thing is NOT quick. Every publisher is different, mind you... they have their own way of doing things, their own schedule and processes. When you sell a book and when it's published are SO different!

My other question is how one throws a "book launch" ... I know you can have more than one... one in your hometown, one somewhere else (maybe!)... so many things to do.

Oh crap and it's almost time to do my taxes again!

Woot! Woot! My Book is UP!

It's not out yet, but it's UP..... on Amazon! (And Chapters in Canada! Which is like B&N or Borders.... oh look it's also up at Borders)


What do you think of the cover? I love it, love, love, love it! From what I understand, the cover illustrator entered in into the annual for the Society of Illustrators and was accepted.... now I don't know much about that but my publisher seemed really excited!

Unfortunately it won't be out in time for Christmas as it has a Spring release date, but I'm thoroughly excited to see it OUT THERE.

What I still find kind of funny is that this was the second book I sold to a publisher. The first is still with its publisher and getting ready. The second one just moved faster, not sure why! But after speaking with the editor on the Green Guide, she said that the book was going into production this coming week. Wow! It's, like, really, really real!

Writing and Motherhood

I came across this article in The Age, an Australian web site and I thought, "how neat, an article about writing and motherhood!"

And it has some good comments, like ...

They wrote when they could, in fits and starts between chores, over the baby in the lap; and when they couldn't write on paper or the computer, they wrote in their heads. They sometimes found that chaos and urgency became important, even necessary, to their writing.

But there were a few comments that irritated me, like the one about some Mr. Hoity-Toit that thought you couldn't possibly be a mother AND an artist (read: "arteest") because you were supposed to give your soul to your art. Hogwash. No one tells doctors to hold off having kids so they can give their soul to their work. No one tells a teacher or a salesperson...

Personally, I feel as though motherhood has made me a better writer. (As someone else in the article also mentioned) I was always a writer, but I didn't think I had anything important to say until I was a mom.

Reflection

Wow, has a year passed? Really? When Carolyn emailed us the other day to give us a friendly kick in the pants, I wondered how I'd missed it... oh yeah, my son turned seven on Aug 12 and my daughter turned 2 on Aug 17.

Really? Did I start this blog on my daughter's birthday? I'd forgotten... what's really weird is that I received my first book contract the day she was born. I was in the hospital and brought my BlackBerry with me. I wish someone had taken a picture of me trying to be supermama.

So what have I done in a year?

Written two books - both of which are scheduled for spring 2009 publication.

Gone back to work full-time, something that I didn't do by desire, but necessity.

Um... that's about it I think!

I've learned a lot about myself and the way I work. I've vowed to put off procrastination for good, I am such a miserable person when I'm on a big deadline and I know I have wasted hours of time. I've also learned that going back to work full-time wasn't the death of me. In fact it probably saved our family. It allowed us to stay afloat here in Canada long enough for my husband to find a job that fits him perfectly.

If I'd insisted on staying home then hubby would have likely headed to the US to find a job. We were minutes away from booking a flight for him to go to Chicago to a military job fair when I chose to go back to work. It was one path or another.

At the moment I'm finishing up a few things for my last book (an illustration list that was SUPPOSED to accompany the manuscript... whoops!!) and thinking about what comes next. Spring 2009 will involve lots of promotion, so I've started working on that.

The last year has been a lot of "learn by doing"... which I love. And looking back, there isn't much I'd change! (Ok, I might have eaten a little less... during the typing of this post I broke my cheap office chair... I guess I sit on the edge too often and I broke the flimsy seat in half. Awesome.)

How Do You Blast Through Writer's Block?

I know that writers tend to fall into two camps: those that believe in writer's block, and those that do not. I've always fallen into the "not" category because normally I recognize that my block isn't really a block from outside of my mind... it's totally self-inflicted.

Someone (was it Linda? Joshilyn? Carolyn?) said that it's what happens when your inner critic is yelling and you can't shut her up. (Or him, I think my inner critic has a brother... I don't like him any more than I like his sister.) So the trick is to make your words (writing) louder and faster so that they can't keep up.

This is accomplished by just sitting your butt in the chair, putting your hands on the keyboard (BICHOK) and writing. It's not easy for those of us who want to write good well every time we sit down. But it's what Anne Lamott would call a "shitty first draft". Sometimes it's a draft that goes no where. There's a great internal sigh of relief when I write something truly gross and horrible and then I hit delete on the whole file. Somehow just writing it down and getting it out of my brain and onto my computer is like some new-age Pensieve.

Then hitting delete can just erase that horrible writing from my life... and free me up to write The Good Stuff.

Wordclay Writing Center offers five tips on breaking through that "block". I found the tips using StumbleUpon, a Firefox add-on that lets you pre-set some interests (writing, horses, parenting.. etc..) and then you can Stumble around the internet and it will bring you to sites that match your interests. If you see one you like, you can click the "I like it!" icon in your toolbar. Hey, if you use Stumble you could even "vote" for Mama Needs A Book Contract!

Charting Your Progress

There is a white board that sits next to my desk, on it I catalogue my book progress. I'm a very visual person, so I know that I need this kind of motivation. Note the goal of "75K", "Sleep!", and of course "Beer!"

Every time I shut down for the night, I'd write down my word count. Sometimes I'd hide the word count by placing something in front of the lower left hand corner of my screen so that I wouldn't be tempted to look. Because you can bet that every time I paused to think of the right word or phrasing... my eyes would shoot down the left to see how I was doing.

Do you use any incentives or visual signs of progress during a big project?

Book Review: Bird by Bird

Right after I finished and submitted my manuscript last week I surfed by Joshilyn's web site where she mentioned Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I'd been a little flustered, not sure what to do now that I was done writing that book... and I immediately glommed on to the fact that I Had To Read That Book Now.

I had it around somewhere... but I couldn't find it. I went to two bookstores (including a used one) and couldn't find it. Everyone was looking for "mommy's bird book". It was finally located in the kitchen bookshelf (every room has a bookshelf!) and I dove in.

I loved it like the first time I read it.

I offer you this great review by Karen L. Alaniz.

Writing Your Book Proposal - Part 3 (of 3)

Ok, if you've followed along with part 1 and part 2 then you're ready for part 3.

1. Title Page
a. Name, sub-head
b. Your name, any representation (like your agent)
c. “A Non-Fiction Book Proposal”

2. Proposal Table of Contents
a. Note: not the book’s table of contents, but the proposal’s

3. Overview
a. This is a one page summary of the book and may include: Statistics; Possible or confirmed interview subjects; Some structure (i.e., Each chapter will include sidebars that highlight the most important take-away points for readers to remember…)

4. About the Author
a. Written in third person
b. Reads like the back flap of a book cover
c. About the Author (used in Rookie Reiner):

Heather Cook spent several years working in the reining industry as an assistant trainer, traveling as far as Austria to one of the country’s premiere facilities to teach reining and horsemanship lessons. She has worked for several notable trainers, including World Champions Bob and Jason Grimshaw. Currently Cook is an editorial team member with Canada’s number one western horse magazine, The Western Horse Review, a monthly columnist for The Quarter Horse News, has been published several times in The Reiner, the official publication of the National Reining Horse Association, and is an international reining correspondent for PhelpsSports.com. Using a humorous and conversational writing style, Cook has written about every aspect of the reining horse industry. She has covered recent rule changes and their effect on the industry, profiled top professionals, written training articles and spoken with hundreds of reining horse enthusiasts from the first time rider to the highest money earning rider of all time.

5. Target Audience
a. Write as much as you know about your audience
b. Stats from StatsCan
c. Research studies
d. Angus Reid Polls

6. Comparable titles
a. Include: title, author, publisher, format, page count, price
b. Two sentence summary about the book
c. Two sentence summary about how your book is different (and presumably better)

7. Marketing and Promotion
a. “The author is committed to promoting and has investigated the following:
i. Web site (including regular newsletter/promotion)
ii. Events you can attend
iii. Advertising in specific publications or sponsorship for events

8. Format and schedule for delivery
a. How many words?
b. How many photos, graphics and charts?
c. Full-colour or black and white?
d. When can you complete the manuscript?

9. Companion books
a. Pitch more books in the same line, propose a series or smaller supplementary books

10. Chapter Outline
a. All chapters should include number, title and a short description
b. You can use bullet points (no more than five) or a five sentence paragraph.

11. Sample Chapters!
a. Up to three
b. Normally it would be the first three chapters but can be any three if you already have some portions written, but be ready to answer the question “why didn’t you give us the first chapter?”
c. You will calculate the book length (from #8) by multiplying the number of chapters by the word count in one chapter. For example, a 50,000 word book with ten chapters should be 5,000 words per chapter.
d. If the math doesn’t work out, make a note that this chapter is slightly longer because…
e. You can include some formatting such as text boxes or “call outs”. No graphics, however note where a graphic might be include with


So that's about it! Now get to work!

Writing Your Book Proposal - Part 1 (of 3)

Recently I gave a talk on writing book proposals and I thought I'd share some of the info here for all you future authors wondering where to start.

From Book Proposals That Sell by Terry Whalin: “According to a survey from the Jenkins Group Inc … 81% of Americans feel they should write a book …” and yet, only 2% of the population has ever actually written a manuscript, let alone gotten it published.

Writing fiction and non fiction is very different. At least it is for me. In fiction I feel like I can experiment, start from the middle, work my way through the story. But with non-fiction there is a lot more structure. It needs to be logical, it needs to have a straight forward plot.

Writing from word 1 through to word 50,001 may not work. You need to build a framework and then fill it in so you can be sure not to miss portions of the book or run into structuring issues.
Some things to think about AFTER the lightening strike IDEA and before you start the proposal.

To flesh out the idea before you put it on paper:

Readers very selfish, “what’s in this for me”. Publishers are also selfish, “what’s in it for me and will my customers (readers) like it.” The big question your proposal needs to answer, “will it sell”?

Why publishers like book proposals:

• You are looking for a publisher to make an investment so this is almost like asking a bank to finance a project, except you are assuming no financial risk. $50,000 per book. Sales projections are calculated so that the publisher can factor costs right down to the amount of ink needed to create the book.
• A proposal is a snapshot of the project as a whole and are used to take the book through the approval process from editorial, planning, concept, marketing meetings. All decisions are done by committee.
• Proposals show how well the author knows her subject and that she has recognized that the publisher needs to examine many different aspects of the project

Stay tuned tomorrow for some more...

Summer Fun

I'm bearing down on a deadline and guess what... I LOVE IT.

I love this book, I love it's structure, I love it's message.

Researching and writing it has been hard work. There have been many nights that I didn't get to bed until after midnight when I had to get up by 6 am to go to work. There were lunch hours I had to race home to do a phone interview or sit at my desk reading a research book.

I've learned so much with this book. Every time I'd sit down to do some research I'd uncover something really cool to add.

But you know what? In ten days when this book goes to the editor... I'm going to take a LONG NAP.

Have a Molehill to Move?

We have a super special guest today! I met her through FreelanceSuccess.com and she's one of the most upbeat and inspirational writers I know. When I was looking for writing mothers to interview, Jen Jen Singer of MommaSaid.net was one of the first Mamas (Or Mommas) that I thought of... I've been struggling with motivation lately but after reading Jen's story, I feel like my mountain might actually be a molehill.

1) Introverts 'recharge' by spending time alone, extroverts 'recharge' by spending time with others. Which are you and how does it affect your writing?

I’ve always said I’m enough like my mother that I can talk to anyone, anywhere, yet enough like my father that I don’t want to. I can pour on the charm for a TV segment or a book-signing, but the next day, I have to hide in my office and write. I do need to get out, though, if for no other reason than to get blog fodder, but also because I like to be with people. But I also like being alone now and then. And with one kid playing “Smoke on the Water” on the keyboard outside my office right now while two others discuss the finer points of the Lego Indiana Jones game, now would be great.

2) What writing-related duties exhaust you?

Book publicity exhausts me. On the one hand, I love talking on the radio and doing interviews. On the other hand, I find that, around book launch time anyway, it takes up so much time that I don’t get to write as much as I’d like to (or need to.) I didn’t write a word in my book that’s due September 1st for five whole weeks while I was doing publicity for “You’re a Good Mom.” That’s fine – better that than no one cares about your book, right? And I do love a good publicity “get,” like when I appeared on Sally Jessy Raphael’s radio program twice. But it can get tiring.

3) What writing-related duties energize you?

I love when I get lost in writing a blog or a page in a book. I lose track of time, and I don’t think about anything else but what I’m writing. Well, also Scrabulous -- I swear I have writing ADD. But when I’m in the writing zone, it jazzes me like tennis can, only without all that sweating.

4) How do you motivate yourself each day to get your butt in the chair and keep writing?

Deadlines are very motivating, as are checks. But honestly, I just love writing. When I’m stuck with writing something (and it’s someone else’s move in Scrabulous), I go to the gym or anywhere but my office. I often come back with something to write about, which, in turn, keeps my butt in my office chair.

5) What specific challenges have you faced and how did you motivate yourself through them?

Last June, I had four chapters left to write in “You’re a Good Mom (and Your Kids Aren’t So Bad Either)” when I found out I had cancer. Still, I managed to finish writing the book, beating my extended deadline by a week. I discovered throughout chemotherapy and radiation that writing anchors me and gives me hope. Plus, it’s cheaper than therapy. Besides, the steroids my oncologist prescribed made for a lot of sleepless nights, so I figured I might as well write while I was up at 3 a.m., because it was better for my psyche than trolling cancer support chat rooms and crying. I have found that once you’ve written on the oncology floor at the hospital, writing seems easier. I have a September 1st deadline and 41,000 more words to go on my next book, the second in a series of MommaSaid branded parenting guides due out in 2009 from HCI. And yet, it doesn’t phase me. My next PET scan, however, does. I’ve been in remission since January, but I’ll have quarterly PET scans this year to make sure my lymphoma doesn’t return. If it does, I’ll pack up my laptop for the hospital.

~~~

If you are as motivated by Jen's story as I am, you can check out more from her at MommaSaid.net

Stratosphereic Mental Illness Number*

I am ignoring the big red button that says panic. That's right. I'm sitting here NOT thinking of a big red button. Try it with me.

Do NOT think of the big red button.

It does not exist.

How's that working for you?

There really isn't THAT much to panic. Just a manuscript that needs to be read and re-read and everytime I find something new to put in it and I wonder if I have everything in that it needs and I feel that NO I certainly do NOT and there must be more to find and I'm below word count anyways so let's just put that in there ... or should it go there ... or here, or what about here and I think maybe I'll make a WHOLE NEW CHAPTER but then is it duplicating info from somewhere else, do I sound like a broken record...

And lather, rinse repeat because that is what life feels like at the moment.

I am SO taking a break when this book is done. At least until I get the edits back.

*I think Joshilyn has patented the Mental Illness Number Ranking System.

I know I left my inner peace around here somewhere...

I just HAD to post this tonight. Tonight we have a guest post from Aileen McCabe-Maucher (plus more letters! RN, MSW, LCSW). She is a a licensed psychotherapist, registered nurse and author of the forthcoming book, The Inner Peace Diet that will be published by Penguin in December 2008. And, she's a mom to a two-year-old girl.


When I read Aileen's bio, I had one huge question:


"How can I be ambitious AND have inner peace? I’m an ambitious person by nature… but I want to find that peace. How can I do it?"

Here's what she had to say:

When I think of maintaing both a sense of inner peace and personal ambition the following quote by Lao Tzu comes to mind "By doing nothing one could accomplish everything.'"

As a busy mom, writer and psychotherapist, I rarely have time to "do nothing." As I type this entry after midnight, I have two loads of laundry in progress, a feverish child in my bed, and a desk piled high with work. A part of me thrives on burning the candle at both ends and having multiple projects in the works. However, a larger part of me, simply just wants to be relaxed and enjoy exactly where I am in this moment. For me, inner peace is simply about being in the present and knowing that everything will be okay, regardless of how crazy it seems now. Meditation is a great way to infuse your day with inner peace. I try to set aside ten minutes each morning to simply sit and breathe. During meditation, I slowly breathe in and out through my nostrils and gently let go of any thoughts or worries. I allow everything to be as it is. Having thoughts occur during meditation is as natural as breathing. I welcome the thoughts and then quietly let them go as I surrender to silence. At first, I found meditation challenging. I ,too, am ambitious. It was hard for me to sit still and I was eager to get started with the next item on my list. However, after a lot of practice meditation is now my favorite part of the day.

Paradoxically, I find that after this ten minutes of "doing nothing" but meditating, I am most productive. Some of my best ideas and freshest writing come to me after meditation. In a sense, meditation fuels my ambition yet also sustains my sense of inner peace.

That really spoke to me. I am a pretty driven person. I'm a check-it-off-move-to-the-next-thing type of gal. But lately I've been thinking about how to find a peacefulness inside. A small part of my brain wonders what other women do who are stay-at-home-moms... and who don't drive themselves batty trying to write until midnight each night, get workouts in every day, work a full time job ... and expect that they won't lose their temper or snap at their kids.

Surely they have some kind of peace. I'm considering taking a few weeks off from any writing whatsoever, maybe even a computer break for two WEEKS this summer, after my book deadline of course. But maybe I can work a little harder at getting that "everyday peace" that Aileen is talking about.

Thank you Aileen!