I am super excited to have Lucy on the blog today doing a guest post for us. So please help me welcome Lucy to the blog today.
Cindy, as always it is a pleasure to be here! Thank you so much for inviting me over to your blog today.
Writing with kids during summer
By Lucy Swing
Summer. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, kids laughter feels the air. But for writers, it may not be all beautiful and fun all the time.
During the summer of 2011 I decided I wanted to write a book. Yes, just like that. After reading the Twilight saga (hey you! Yes, you. I saw you roll your eyes at the mention of Twilight. Watch it! Hehe) I was addicted. I became a YA junkie.
I always had ideas for a book (don’t we all?) but never got any further than the first couple of pages before I gave up. Writing is a lot of work, and not everyone understands this. Anyway, I wrote the first draft of Feathermore during that summer. I really wanted this and needed to see it through, even if my MS would never see the light of day.
Having kids complicates the art of writing, especially over the summer. When I wrote Feathermore I was out all day playing the role of Mommy and then, would stay until the wee hours of the night, or morning however you want to see it, writing. This summer though, has been kicking my ass. I am not sure why, either. Maybe it’s because my kids are older and need different/more things to entertain themselves, or maybe I can’t juggle as much as I could last year, I don’t know. But the fact is, my writing has been almost non-existent.
I try to do the same schedule I did last year. Take the kids to the beach or the water park in the morning and then stay home in the afternoon (in Naples, FL by 2pm the clouds roll in and storms for the rest of the afternoon. I’m not kidding. It doesn’t fail.) But I am finding the kids and myself sleeping in late, so by the time we wake up we only have a few hours of sun. And everything seems to get pushed over, and by the time night comes, I am so beat up, all I can think is of sleep.
But! I was lucky enough that my mother took the kids for a few days last week and I was able to finish re-writing Fallenmore. I had become a ball of stress, and well, still am, but at least Fallenmore is now complete and out!
How do you do it? Do you have a routine or a way to make it all work and not work yourself to the ground?
“What are you doing?” Blake’s voice came from somewhere in the staircase.
I froze a few feet away from the front door and turned, very slowly, to glare up at him. I extended my arm on my side and opened my hand. Like metal to a magnet, a pair of car keys came flying into the palm of my hand. Never once breaking eye contact, I responded, “To finish what I started.” Then I shot him a smile.
The front door swung open without me even touching it, but before I could reach it, Blake was before me; the door closing shut behind him. “No, you’re not.”
“Who—Do you—Think—You—Are?” My voice was low and guttural, something I had too, never experienced before. Then again, I was in uncharted territory now.
“You don’t want to do this. You’re not thinking clearly.” He lowered his voice, but I still heard what he said next. "I knew I should have kept the restraints on you." His hand wound up on my shoulder, the act was a mixture of warning and threat all wrapped up in one and in a blur of fast movements, I had him with his back on the hardwood floor.
He wasn’t going to tell me what to do. I’ve gone along with people doing that for far too long, and it was time for it to stop. “Claire should be expecting what’s coming for her.” I let go of him with one last shove and opened the door. There, on the driveway, was a silver BMW. “Nice car.” I said over my shoulder as I walked away. But, where was my Dad’s truck? My truck?!
“You don’t want to fall, Jade. Trust me.” He yelled from inside the house, but I wasn’t stopping. Nothing could stop me now.
“Oh, but I already fell. Maybe not literally,” I said softly, knowing he could hear me just fine even from several feet away and I shrugged my shoulders, “but give me about an hour or so.” The car lights blinked twice and I heard the doors unlock.
“If you fall, it won’t be you anymore. He will own you and you have no idea what that is like. You will turn into someone completely different, and I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do it.”
He was suddenly right behind me with his arms around me, keeping my own arms at either side of my body. I wiggled in a futile attempt to get away from him, but it was no use, he wouldn’t budge. Unable to move away from him, I stilled, if he wanted a fight, he would get a fight. “You don’t want to do this, Jade. Not really.” That was all I heard before the darkness of the night that danced freely around us consumed me.”
**Check back later this morning for my review on Fallenmore.**