I'm Hard at Work on this - Oh look!

My psychologist daughter says that I am not ADHD, but I've always had a hard time sticking to what I should be doing. Right now I SHOULD complete two manuscripts, both sequels to books I've already written. Both stories are outlined and at least 50 percent complete. I need to finish them so that I can submit them and do the promotional dance necessary for keeping my name in the public eye. And I need to finish them so that I can cross them off my to-do list and feel the sense of completion. Whatever.

But as my profile says, I'm happiest when I'm starting a new project. And my publisher threw out a call for submissions of a specific type of story. And the deadline is in three weeks. I thought about it for about ten minutes and a germ of an idea entered my head. And before I knew it I was plotting and planning and researching. A new Scrivener document is started and I've got the first chapter written. Knowing me, I'll have the ending finished by the end of the week. Which means I will have two weeks to write everything in between.

Meanwhile, my two sequels are screaming at me, "Why have you abandoned us?" Sometimes I feel like I'm back in my mom-with-young-kids stage, when I'd be reading with one kid and the other one would need something right now. I'm amazed that they've both turned out to be fairly normal. And then there's social media. I spend WAAYYYY too much time finding out where everyone is, what they're having for dinner, songs that they're thinking about, and the general health of everyone I know and everyone they know. I also get a lot of email I don't need, and in order to find the emails I do need, I have to keep deleting the junk ones, and dealing with the writing business ones as soon as I open them.

Maybe there's a chance my books will all get finished, and they'll be great. But that means I'm going to have to concentrate on writing, and not getting distracted by—

Oh, I've got another email! I wonder who it's from.

Sweet Saturday

Welcome back! I am recovering from my writing group's Winter NaNo challenge. We committed ourselves to writing 32,000 words in 28 days. It was tough but I managed to get it done, and I have a new manuscript that I hope to have edited and submitted soon. Here's part of the opening from my new work-in-progress:

Sophie looked at her watch. She had ten more minutes until the store officially closed. She'd leave the doors unlocked until the rest of the quilting group arrived. The door opened and she looked up to greet the newcomer. But it wasn't a customer or a quilter.

A little blonde cherub stood in the doorway, looking around her with wide eyes. She looked to be about seven or eight years old. Just about the age another little girl would be about now...

"Do you need something, sweetie?" Sophie asked.

The little girl turned her soulful blue eyes at her. "It's raining outside and my daddy hasn't come to pick me up yet. Is it okay if I wait here?"

"Sure. Was your dad supposed to pick you up from the ice cream shop next door?"

"Yeah. I went to Suzy's birthday party after school and everyone else is gone. The ice cream man turned the lights off so I couldn’t stay there."

"He turned the lights off while you were still there?" Sophie couldn't imagine why the shop owner would be so cruel.

"Yeah. He told me I had to wait outside."

"Well, I won't turn the lights off here. Do you want me to call your daddy?"

"Yes, please. I have his phone number.” The little girl reached in her backpack and pulled out a worn slip of paper.

Sophie took the paper, squinting at the number scrawled on it. "Where does he work?"

"At the high school."

"Is he a teacher? School was out a long time ago."

"Yeah, but he always has work to do after school. Especially if there's a concert or something. He's the band director."

"Okay, I'll see if I can reach him. What's his name?"

"Brad Carmichael."

Sophie called the number on the paper. After several rings, the line was picked up and a deep, velvety voice answered.

"Rivertown High School Band Office."

"Mr. Carmichael?"

"Yes."

"This is Sophie at The Quilting Bee. Your daughter is waiting here for you."

"Jennie's there? She's supposed to be at a birthday party until--oh drat. I'm sorry. I'll be right there. Thanks for calling." The loud click told her he had disconnected in a hurry.

Sophie put the receiver down and smiled at the girl. "Your dad is on his way here."

****

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to read the excerpts offered by other authors by going to Sweet Saturday Samples and clicking on their links. You may find a new favorite author!