Finding Time to Write with Jessica Subject

Thank you so much, Wendi, for having me on your blog! It’s been an exciting month for me with two releases. And that brings me to my topic for today, finding time to write.

I have two kids, and up until last month, there was always at least one of them home with me as I wrote my stories. Plus, I have another job which occupies my time as well. All of that, plus regular, everyday activities and housework competed for time that I could be writing. In September though, with the kids back as school, and my other job requiring less of my time, I thought I’d have more minutes in the day to write. I was wrong.

With the kids gone, I feel lost. I know I should be doing things, but my schedule has changed so drastically, and I’m still trying to get used to it. And with two releases in September, I had a lot of promo to do through blog posts, guest blogs, blog tours, blog hops, advertising, and so much more.

This month, things have calmed down a bit. I’m finding more time to write, and settling into my schedule. I’m still trying to balance everything, but I think I’m doing better.

So, what about you? How do you manage your time? Do you have to have everything scheduled, or are you more laissez-faire?

In one of my September releases, Sudden Breakaway, Jared has the opposite problem. He has less time after becoming guardian of his niece and nephew.

Here’s an excerpt:

What have I done? Jared yanked Dylan off the top of the fridge, holding him under his arm as the kid tried to wiggle free. “Superman can fly. You can’t. If you jump from that high, you’re going to get hurt.”

Once the boy stopped squirming, Jared set him down and rushed over to his niece, who had decided to scribble on his white cell phone with a marker. “Madison, I know you love everything pink, but my phone does not need a makeover.”

He grabbed the marker and she squealed, escaping under the table and down the hall clutching his phone. His morning had just begun. He couldn’t even take a leak without the kids finding some kind of trouble. Yes, they went to daycare while he worked, but beyond the hours of nine to five, they were all his, and on weekends, he had no pardon. Why on Earth had he thought he could raise two preschoolers on his own?

The doorbell rang.

He glanced down the hall toward the bedrooms, where an ominous silence reigned. With the children quiet, they had to be plotting their next mission to destroy his sanity. Or perhaps they’d already started. Shrugging, he headed for the door, risking a future disaster to see who stood on his porch.

Dylan came charging at him, his dark eyes wide, reminding him of his sister when she was a child. “Someone’s at the door. Who is it, Uncle Jared?”

The boy skidded straight across the slippery linoleum, his body slamming into Jared’s knees.

Jared stumbled back, trying to regain his balance, and grasped the doorknob. The latch clicked open. Losing his footing again, he stumbled to the floor, his nephew landing on top of him. Groaning, he glanced up at the woman standing above him; his former commander’s wife. “Can I help you, Mrs. Collins?

She lifted Dylan and balanced him on her hip. “From the look of things, I think I can help you.” Slipping off her shoes, she lined them on the mat beside the rest of the footwear and continued into the house. “I’m giving you the day off.”

What? He’d dreamed about time to himself since the day after his niece and nephew had arrived, but had accepted that would never happen. Not until the preschoolers were old enough to stay on their own, anyway.

He hopped to his feet, shut the door, and followed them into the living room. Madison had materialized out of nowhere, to join her brother, the pair of them sitting on either side of Mrs. Collins, their lopsided halos balancing atop their horns. Why couldn’t they sit as still when no one else was around?

Slumping onto a chair, he leaned back and sighed. “How do you do it? How do you make them turn off?”

She chuckled. “I’m a guest. Trust me when I say kids always behave better around people they don’t see every day. Back to why I’m here. My daughter says every time she sees you grocery shopping, you look ready to explode.”

He didn’t remember seeing the commander’s teenage daughter, but any out-of-the-house excursions with the kids resulted in him trying to get back home as soon as possible. He tried to avoid running into anyone he knew. “I’m still getting used to having Madison and Dylan here. It’s been quite a change.”

The woman wrapped an arm around each child and snuggled them closer to her. “I always found I was a better mother when I had time away from my kids. I came back to them with a new focus and less stressed. But I had family around to take them here and there. Since you don’t, I’m here to give you a break.”

Sudden Breakaway 

Dressed in her black designer suit, Paige Brown recruits men and women for the Space Service. After the end of her marriage, and several failed recruiting missions, she yearns to find a way out of her lifelong contract to live a normal life. To find love again.

Jared Barnes’s life had been flipped upside down by two little kids. When his former Commander’s wife shows up to give him a reprieve, he jumps at the chance for a break, and to visit his former squad. But it is not his buddies he meets in the private suite at the Washington Capitals game, instead a woman who has been the star of all of his recent fantasies, fulfills his wildest dreams except the one that binds his heart.

Has Madame Eve made a mistake or can two lonely hearts overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles?

Now available from Decadent Publishing and other ebook retailers.

More information and Buy Links here: http://www.markofthestars.com/wp/?page_id=9958

Bio:

Jessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from anyone who has enjoyed her stories.

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