I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been a little sporadic with my posts lately. Not only here, but my weekly Facebook posts have been suffering as well. I hate to say it, but it’s only going to get worse over the next few weeks. I call it my Trifecta of Distractions.
Point One: Obligations
The first point in the Trifecta is the California Dreamin’ Conference. The time is fast approaching for the conference at the end of March. Only a few few short weeks remain to make sure everything is in order. I’m the registration chair, so I’m tasked with keeping track of who is coming, who has cancelled, who still needs to pay, who’s volunteering, etc.
I’m also in charge of stuffing the registration packets that attendees receive when they show up. including their conference pin, volunteer ribbons, name tags and other accouterments. Not only that, but you know those swag bags all conference attendees receive? Yup. I have those as well, along with all the books and other author promo materials that go inside of them. Currently, I’m getting six to eight large delivery boxes every two to three days, then I have to open, inventory, re-seal, and label each box before it gets put away. I have no idea how I’m going to get these boxes from the house to the conference hotel…
If you are thinking of attending California Dreamin’, I highly recommend it. I’m not saying that because I’m on the committee, I’m saying that because this is one of the best conferences I’ve been to. The first writers conference I attended was California Dreamin’ back in 2013. I didn’t know a single person there. But that didn’t stop other experienced writers from taking me under their wing and showing me the ropes. 2015’s Cal Dreamin’ is where I got my first full request…and that wasn’t even from a pitch, it was from a critique session!
There is so much to learn during the three days, I don’t even know where to start. Luckily, fellow committee member Alina K. Field has done that for me. You can read all about what the conference has to offer here.
Not only will I be there wearing my Registration Cap, I’ll be speaking on Sunday’s Law Enforcement panel. Check it out!
Point Two: Writing Anxiety
The second point in my Trifecta comes my self imposed deadline.
I’m not a published author. In order to be published, I need a completed manuscript in order to send it out to editors and agents. And by completed, I mean finished, polished, proof-read, edited, beta read, etc. I love my story. The Seduction of the Duke is a story I am very proud of. I’ve entered it in contests and received high scores (though just a teeny bit behind the winner), I’ve pitched it several times to editors, agents, and publishers and they love it. The want to see more of it, the entire thing, to be exact. I hate to admit it, but for a writer, I’ve done very little actual writing in the past couple of months. Between serving two years on the conference committee, two years on the board of my local RWA chapters, and working 50+ hours a week at the Day Job (which never goes away), time has been at a premium. Even with working in brief sprints, I find myself distracted and unable to focus on the story at hand.
So I gave myself a deadline. Well, that’s not quite true. I extended my autumn deadline by several months. I still have some work to do on Seduction. There are a couple of major revisions to take care of, then it will have to go to my critique partners for a couple of reads since I don’t trust myself with self-editing. After than comes more revisions before I can send the story and it’s query out into the world. Thank goodness for writing partners!
Then there is the timing to take into consideration. If I start major work in April, it takes me 2 months to go through multiple revisions, that’ll put me right at the height of Conference Season. So I’d have to delay my submission until September at the earliest so I don’t get lost in the virtual slush pile of manuscripts. So my goal is to finish it all before June.
There’s no pressure. None at all…
Point Three: Family Love
The last point on my Trifecta of Distractions is my absolute favorite. Dearest Seester, BiL, and the Littles are coming to California for a visit! This makes up for my lack of writing and blogging for the next few weeks. I haven’t seen the Littles (other than FaceTime) since December. While the timing couldn’t possibly be worse (they leave ten days before the conference starts), I am looking forward to spending time with Face Nephie and Fave Niece. At 3½ and 2½ respectively, it’s going to be so much fun to take them places and show them around. I hope there’s time to take them to the streets nearby that share their names, so I can take a picture of them with “their” street signs. I have a fun little Christmas gift planned for that.
So there you have it. You won’t see much of me between now and the beginning of April. Aside from the odd scheduled post, I’ve even put my Sunday Speed Dates on hold until the madness of the next few weeks is over. Then things will return to normal. (whatever that means) and I can bring back my regularly scheduled programs.
See you in a couple of weeks!
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