My last post was quite awhile ago and I was writing about
needing a
business plan. I was right on target for following that business plan
when
BAM! things changed. You know
the saying:
Life happens while you're
busy making plans.
In March, I was pulled in to be a project manager on an
important proposal at my day job. That lasted for an entire month, and just
when I was able to breathe again, BAM!
I found out I was pregnant. That sent my husband and me into a tailspin and by
the time I had wrapped my head around creating a new human being, I was dragged
into another project as project manager and
dealing with HORRIBLE first trimester symptoms.
The intensity of the first trimester plus the project left
me with little room for having any kind of personal or writing life. And when
the work project wrapped up mid second trimester, I was placed on bed rest for
a pregnancy induced herniated disc. Once I came back from that, I finished up my role with the current project and that
brings us up to mid August.
The rest of August, September and October where spent taking
a breather. I was tired--mentally and physically. Not to mention, I had
neglected my personal life and hadn't began doing anything baby related. Who
knew being pregnant was such hard work? I took a much needed break to refocus.
And I decided late October to do
NaNoWriMo to get my creative juices flowing
again.
The problem? November 1st came and went and I wasn't
motivated to start the sequel to The Two Worlds. I actually felt bad about it
and began to panic--what if I was losing my writing mojo? What was wrong with
me? I scoured my writing vault (where all unfinished works live) and found a
paranormal mystery I had written last year for NaNoWriMo and never touched
again. So I brushed off the dust, added a few more thousand words and now I
have a first draft of a story that I'm really excited about.
For the rest of the year, I will be finishing up prepping for
the new kid and wrapping up things at the day job. I usually write a plan for
the upcoming year, but since I have no idea what life is going to be like with
a baby, I'm forcing myself to take it bit by bit until we get into a routine. Ideally,
I would like to have a second draft of the paranormal mystery done by April
2015. And I'm currently working on that right now.
All in all, life happened. Lots of surprises, good and not
so good, and lots of adjusting my schedule and my mentality. The most important
lesson I learned in 2014 is that you can only take things day by day and you
have to be flexible--especially as an indie author. I have to admit: I can't wait to see what
2015 brings!