Writing During the Tough Times

The past month or so has been a challenge. After my husband struggled with breathing issues for nearly two weeks and it suddenly had gotten worse, I had to rush him to the ER. He was admitted right away. After several days of tests and treatments, I was told he has late-stage heart failure. Wow! We knew his heart was in bad shape having undergone a triple bypass back in 2013 and a 7-day hospital stay in 2023 due to congestive heart failure. Sounds pretty grim, yet despite it all, my husband continued to work hard on our ten acres, help neighbors, and stay involved in the community. He has never been a chill-all-day kind of guy. He always needed to keep busy. 

But things are different now. He's older, the body less forgiving, and his poor heart not able to keep up.

As for me, I am relieved he's under the care of professionals. He's in a long-term care hospital now getting the best treatment. I don't know when he'll return home. The not knowing is hard, but I'm leaving it all up to God. 

This crazy turn of events has caused me to toss my writing goals to the back burner. Between daily visits to the hospital, getting my special needs daughter to her day program and medical appointments, and keeping up with chores at home, it's been impossible to stay on top of writing. Finally, I made the time. Or, should I say, a cold forced me to stay home and away from vulnerable patients in a hospital. I finally finished the query letter I plan to send out to agents. It took some doing to make myself sit down and get it done. The simple strategy is the same one an organizer will use to help frantic people keep their homes neat and chaos free. It's the fifteen-minute trick. Set the timer and work as fast as you can until it goes off. 

Well, I didn't use a timer, but I did force myself to sit down and go through the steps to fine-tune my query letter. You can say I had a timer inside my head. I wasn't going to stop until I completed the task.

This simple method can be utilized no matter where you're at in your writing journey. Maybe you're working on a rough draft. Set the timer for 15 minutes and go for it. Perhaps you're trying to nail down your characters. Dial to a set time and write down every quirk your character may have. I find it helpful to have an interview with my characters. You can do this easily within 15 minutes. The important thing is to make it fun. When tough times happen, you need something bright and fulfilling in your day. Accomplishing a writing task, even for a short fifteen minutes, can be very satisfying. And it's no secret writing is good therapy.

I would love to see your comments about the tough times you may have experienced and how it has compromised your writing or any other important task you're struggling to finish. As always, thanks for visiting my blog and taking the time to read this post.

It has taken me a long time to complete Liberty's Tears. As I said in my last post, I'm finally ready to get it into the hands of readers. I decided to pursue traditional publishing. At first, I felt a bit intimidated by the process. But after going through an awesome online course on submitting a manuscript to an agent, I am excited and ready for the challenge.

My author friends know how it feels. You're trusting "your baby" to a stranger. As you learn what it takes to get a book out there, you soon realize a good agent knows the market. They know what publishers want, and they know what sells.

I'm one of those writers who aren't in it to make gobs of money. I just want to share a story I have worked hard on. Regardless of my own endgame, I need to follow the steps and do it right. My other choice is self-publishing. I have done the research, and it is expensive if I do it the right way in order to get a good result.

For you readers out there. You know what you want. A great book that will take you away from it all and make you smile long after you have read the very last chapter. A great read compels you to recommend it to your friends and give stellar reviews on Amazon.

I'm curious how many of you are writers and know what I'm talking about? Or are you an avid reader? If so, what kind of books do you enjoy?  

My, my. It has been six years since I last posted. Well, things have been quite busy here on the farm. Besides working full time, I have helped my husband with numerous projects on our ten acres. 

When winter weather kicked in, keeping us indoors most of the time, I focused on other interests in addition to writing. 

Writing in and of itself is time consuming, as my author friends can attest. Over the years, I managed to complete two manuscripts. I spent time researching and editing, and received lots of help from my critique partners. 

I retired a year ago. Let me tell you, it is wonderful! I spent the past 12 months tying up loose ends, catching up on my scrapbooking and genealogy research, and improving our home as I mentioned earlier. Writing sort of took a back seat, but not in my heart. 

I have finally come to the point where I need to pursue publication. I believe my stories will move others as they have me, but I can't share them unless they are published. Now for the fun part: how to do it. It has taken some research and lots of prayer to arrive at a decision. In my next post six years from now...

Just kidding. Hopefully in a week I will have an update. Until then, enjoy this early winter weather, stay safe, and keep looking up for answers.

State of the Muddled Mind, Part One

Look at the title of this blog. The Country Author. One would think I have a multitude of published novels in my resume. I have released one…yep, just one…novel over the last thirteen years and have been dealing with pangs of guilt for not producing more. Am I living a lie? Does it matter? This blog doesn’t have a large audience, so who cares?

I care, and I want to be transparent and accountable.

I’m sixty-two years old. Age is just a number, but sometimes I feel it’s more than that. I catch myself dwelling on my own mortality, convinced I’m falling short of my potential and don’t have a lot of time left to fulfill it. Sure, I can believe that statement or I can do something about it.

Does God want me obsessing over this? He wants us to have an abundant life, a fulfilled life. If we spend our days worried about the future and don’t make the most of today, we are falling short of who God created us to be. He doesn't want our minds muddled with things we don't have control over.

I’m taking a step of faith right now by posting my whole self on this blog. My worries, my obsessions, my dreams, and my faith. I’m done with the guilt over what I haven’t accomplished, and I’m ready to rinse the chaos from the slate of my life and start over. I'm ready to unmuddle my mind.

Heavenly Father, guide me through this process and use it to bless others.

To all my family and loved ones: Bear with me. If you believe in the power of prayer, lift me up. If you’re going through something similar, stand with me and we’ll tackle this together. If you’ve got it all together and can lend a hand, I’ll take it. 

Leave a comment and let me know it’ll be okay, or tell me know how I can pray for you.

Stay tuned for State of the Muddled Mind Part Two

Behold the wonderful layers of a scene

I was inspired to create this infographic after reading an article posted in Writers Helping Writers. Since I never produced an infographic before, I did some research online which led me to Piktochart. Super fun and easy to do. It's like "Paint" on steroids, but without the brushes. 

You can do a lot with the free account. Check it out and let me know what you think. Feel free to Pin the image, print it out for future reference, or share on your website/social media pages.