Writing through the storm by Connie Mann

Some of life’s seasons are smooth sailing. They are calm and filled with gentle breezes and the lazy feeling of a day at the beach. Others start as a small rain cloud, then build up to a tropical storm, and before you know it, you are fighting the raging winds and stormy seas of a full-blown hurricane. For our family, that hurricane’s name was Alzheimer's, and the target it chose was my father.

How do you keep writing when your family is in crisis? Where do you find the time to sit down and focus your thoughts enough to actually put words on paper? How can you possibly meet deadlines when you never know what the next moment will bring? It is a challenge I have been wrestling with for over five years and it isn’t easy. Below are some things I’ve learned, which I hope will encourage you, when you face a storm in your life.

1 – Be realistic

If you realize you're not going to be able to meet a deadline, the time to speak up and ask for an extension is well before the due date. Don't wait till the day before to say something. Publishers can often adjust scheduling, but it will be much easier for them if they have plenty of advance notice. The challenge for me is that I always underestimate how long something will take. It requires taking a very critical look at exactly what I can and cannot do in the allotted time frame. Admitting I need more time is very hard, but is sometimes necessary.

2 - Keep your mind in your story

I had heard about people who wrote books at the sickbed of a loved one, but I will admit I was skeptical. How on earth could you possibly write at a time like that? But I found out it is possible. Maybe not writing long passages, but as I sat by Dad’s beside in the early morning hours, I pulled out my yellow legal pad and jotted plot ideas and character sketches and other things that kept the story at the forefront of my mind.

3 - Take opportunities where you find them

There were a couple of days at the end of Dad’s battle, while Mom and I took turns at the hospital, that I was able to come home and realize I had a few scant hours to get some words on the page. I'm the kind of person who needs a deadline to accomplish anything, so this worked in my favor. Since I'd been thinking about the story, I knew what I wanted to write, so I was able to make the most of those little snatches here and there and make some progress. Getting up crazy-early in the morning also worked some days.

4 – Take care of yourself

No one person can do everything, which is something I have a hard time admitting. But it’s absolutely true. Give yourself permission to take a nap, turn the ringer down on your phone, and draw some boundaries around your availability. I was surprised to discover that allowing myself to think about my story was actually a great mental break. Give yourself lots of grace. And when people offer to help, don’t brush their offers aside. Take them up on it.

5- Keep your perspective

Eccelsiates 3:1 tells us that, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every [a]purpose under heaven.” For me, the hardest thing about this season was knowing Dad’s “happy ending” would be when he crossed onto heaven’s shore, which he did on July 17, 2018. But after a valiant three-week battle, and the struggle with Alzheimer’s for years before that, we can’t wish him back. Though we will miss him like crazy, he is whole and healthy today, and better than he’s ever been. And we had the privilege of walking him home.

Life is an ever-changing mix of seasons, and staying afloat is a lot like piloting a boat. It requires skill and agility and a trust in the one who made the waves.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.” (Psalm 91:2)

When the storms hit, do what you can and let the rest go. Stand on God’s promises, enlist help, and do what you need to do—for your writing and for your family. Know I will be cheering you on.

Bio: Connie Mann is an author and a USCG-licensed boat captain. During this stormy season of her family’s life, she wrote the 3-book Safe Harbor series (Waterfall) and has written the first novel and a novella for her upcoming series with Sourcebooks. She is hard at work on the second book in the series. She also pilots a boat for her local school system, so when she’s not writing, she takes local school children out on the Silver River, showing many of them their very first alligator. You can find Connie online at: www.conniemann.com.

DEADLY MELODY (Safe Harbor #3)

Home is where the heart is. The danger, too . . .

The Martinellis were the closest thing to family Cat Johnson ever had. That’s why she ran—to protect them from her threatening past. The orphaned child of classical musicians, she’s been lying low in Nashville, and performing at the No Name Café. When Cat reluctantly agrees to attend the wedding of her beloved foster sister, the plan is simple: make a quick appearance at the Martinellis and then disappear again. Instead she’s thrust headlong into a nightmare.

After a wedding guest is murdered, Cat’s past descends with a vengeance. So does handsome and inquisitive Safe Harbor cop, Nick Stanton, who will stop at nothing to uncover the town’s secrets. That means exposing Cat’s as well. The more intimate Nick’s feelings for Cat become, the more driven he is to find out what she’s hiding.

As things in Safe Harbor take a terrifying turn, Cat realizes that the man she’s afraid to trust might be the only one she can turn to.

 

Amazon Link: Deadly Melody 
 




Deadly Melody

Writing Through the Tough Times by Laurie Wood

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I love this Bible verse. It seems so simple. Its profound in its simplicity. Be joyful in whatever God brings to your life. Be thankful for it. Never stop praying. It sounds so easy!

Until a serious illness hits you and that deadline is looming. A diagnosis you don’t want to hear. Or, like me, you fall and break your elbow and wrist and put yourself in a 90 degree cast from shoulder to fingertip for two months. Be joyful? Be thankful? Where’s the joy in the pain? 

How can you be thankful for an unintended break in your routine, especially one that means you can’t clean, cook, dress yourself, or look after your children? The part about “never stop praying” is easy… rail at God! How can He do this to me? I have deadlines to meet, I have people who count on me, why me?

When I recovered from my own broken arm and was finally on the home stretch of my requested book, my son fell and broke his ankle in three places. It was what’s called a “catastrophic” break in that his foot was internally severed and needed orthopedic trauma surgery. We were traumatized all right. It’s easier for a parent to bear the pain of broken bones or surgery, than it is to watch your child go through it, especially when they have a limited understanding in the first place.

The real question, is not “why me?” As Christians, we know God is sovereign and in control. The real question is “why not me, Lord?” That bad things happen to us means we’re where He intends us to be, whatever His purpose for us is, even when we can’t see it. Sometimes we need to go through the fire with Him to know, in our hearts, that God is sovereign and in control. He will bring you through to the other side.

What does this “big picture” have to do with our writing? 

• Are we trusting God with our writing or are we trying to do it under our own steam? Is this a season where He needs to get our attention back on Him?
• Are we seeing “the joy” in the situation? You may not feel joyful but there is always something to be grateful for wherever we find ourselves. In my case, I didn’t need surgery on my arm, nor did my son lose his foot. But I had to force myself to see the “joy” when both instances felt like major catastrophes in my life.
• We must handle our emotions, our thoughts, our reactions. Many people never learn that the only control they have over anything is self-control. That is the only control the Bible talks about. So, we need to guard our attitudes and take charge of our hearts and emotions. How do we do that during trials? Back to our Bible verse: “Never stop praying.”
• Pray even when you’re angry, even when your situation makes little sense, even when a contract falls through. God hears even the faintest whispers of our hearts. Sometimes in my son’s hospital room all I could pray was “God, I can’t do this anymore, I need sleep!” I didn’t get sleep, but I felt His presence.
• My husband struggled with the “be thankful” part of the verse. And, at times, so did I. With an unknown prognosis it was hard to “be thankful” that a mentally challenged son might also now be physically incapacitated. But I saw how it drew our family tightly together, how inter-dependent we became again. We’d been drifting apart and hadn’t even realized it. My son and I shared a deep bonding time in the hospital I will always cherish, even while hating the reason it happened. And I was so thankful the injury wasn’t worse. Things can always be worse.

My book got written and submitted. Sometimes I had great writing days and some days all I could do was read over what I’d written the week before. Some days I wrote drivel and then typed in red, capital letters “You Can Edit This Later”. And while I hated most of 2017 and am glad to see it in my rear view mirror, I’m also glad I’ve been through the crucible and feel God beside me, stronger than ever. I have a direction for my writing. I’ve persevered.

There are practical things to help you write in the tough times of life. First, if it’s a dire emergency like my son’s accident, or a death in the family, give yourself permission NOT to write. You need to give your full self to the task at hand.

When struck with an illness, as I was several times this year, I recommend working through the pain along with times of sleep and rest. Use Dragon Speak or other dictation software to help you. They’re well worth the money and sometimes steep learning curve. Dictate into your phone, or scribble words on a notepad. Anything to keep your head in your story for a brief time each day.

Reach out for help. I needed practical help in the form of meals and respite care. I had online friends praying for me and checking in with me during the worst of my son’s accident. A crisis is no time to be proud! You can pay it all forward later when life returns to normal.

If you’re contracted and can’t meet your deadlines, you need to work that out with your editor and/or agent. If you’re not contracted yet, use your best judgement on getting your writing done, but my advice is: persevere. You’ll learn more than you can imagine. Finishing is a reward in itself.

Writing through the tough times teaches us resilience. It teaches us to focus, to never give up. Before 2017, I would’ve told you I couldn’t write under emotional pressure. I’ve changed because I’ve done it. And as the saying goes, if I can do it, so can you. Here’s to a better 2018!

Laurie Wood is a Canadian author who writes both romantic suspense and historical novels. She’s a military spouse who’s followed her husband’s career around the country. Pre-children she was a police officer, and also an Executive Director for a crisis shelter for youth. When she’s not writing she can be found spinning on her spinning wheel, knitting, or walking her dogs. You can find her at www.lauriewoodauthor.com