Parent, Human, or Author?

I’m in that limbo state. I have one book done and ready to be published and the other is with an editor. That means it’s time to clean my house. UGH!  I’d almost rather do anything to avoid the cleaning process. But alas I’m a female in charge of my own house. I don’t have a staff which means I get to clean it.

I’ll admit I bought a big bottle of that deodorizer spray stuff the other day. I guess I’ll  start on the living room. I don’t have a den. I live in my living room. It’s used constantly!

Those three little cute kittens have turned into three cats and they all have claws! I’m not happy. The world is over populated with cats and no one wants them. I can’t seem to give them away and I’ve spent a fortune on them. They are neutered /spayed with all their first shots. I can’t afford to de-claw them and I’m not happy about them climbing my furniture. It’s one thing if whoever adopts them keeps them as indoor cats and another if they ever let them go outside. De-clawed cats cannot go outside.

My other problem I have a housemate who loves cats. My old male was on a strict diet and he was still too fat. Now he’s super fat!  Please stop feeding him! With excess cats in the house, he’s over eating, and he has access to the other cat food.

Being in limbo gives time to think. I got to thinking about the fact that some of my parenting skills were probably lacking. Well, babies don’t come with printed instructions on their butts. I did the best that I could at the time. I know I was a better parent than my parents and I also know that no one is perfect. If I could turn back the hands of time… I wish I was less serious. Really!

I always took time to be with my children. I spent hours playing with them on the floor, reading to them, helping them with homework, and showing them how to do things. But did I continue to spend that time playing and laughing? I think as they grew, I backed away in an attempt to teach them to be self-sufficient.

What made me decide all this? My writing. The last thing we want to do as writers is be negative. As I’ve written about Cody Montgomery, the father in my wedding vow stories, I realized he was a much better parent than I ever was. Or did he have better children?

Children are children. Mine are as different as night is from day. What worked for one didn’t for the other. I could look at one and she’d stop. Her little lip would curl out and she’d dissolve into tears. The other… OMG!  I could rant and threaten and she didn’t care. She’d blow me off and keep on going.

Fortunately my girls have grown into wonderful adults and I couldn’t be any prouder of them. I only wish they were more supportive of my writing. They both seem to think I need a real job. It’s been an ongoing battle for several years.

Authors have a weird income that varies in amounts all the time. I’m still not selling millions of books but really those who do are a small minority. You can count them on your digits! The rest of us struggle to eek a living but I’m still in the minority who actually survives on my income. Very few authors can quit their day jobs and sometimes I wonder if I should have a day job, but that would take away from my writing.

I recently heard that the average author is lucky to sell 200 books. Really? I heard that five years ago. Is it still true? If that is true, I’ve never fit that mold! I have my many readers to thank for supporting me and buying my books. Statistics show that if they buy one, they tend to buy the rest in the series. Thank you! You are the reason I write.

A reader recently sent me a note asking about my next River City. “I do love the River City’s because they are like going home.  It’s like you know everyone there before you open the next book.  You know the city, the streets, the stores, the parks, you know everything!  I love it.” As I told her, I should have another coming out by fall of 2015.

I have a couple of stories in my head that I want to write and then I’m going on concentrate on my historical westerns. I never dreamed I’d write historical novels but I’m enjoying them. I like the research and exploring all the changes that took place in the second half of the 1800’s.

I have a strong background in horticulture and all those changes.  I would frequently lecture on Victorian, Colonial, or Medieval gardens. Maybe I’ll blog about that someday. Sometimes little tidbits on gardening appear in my writing. But I’ll leave you all with the knowledge that I was just a gardener. Very organic, because I couldn’t afford chemicals, and I really didn’t want them around. But I read everything I could get my hands on when it came to gardens and eventually became a master gardener with my local extension service.

If someone ever reaches the bottom of my barrel, they will discover I’m just a human with hopes, dreams, and an odd assortment of experiences. I’ve been a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend, and like most people I’m still chasing that elusive butterfly. Like 99% of the population of the world, I’m still striving for something better, surviving what life tosses my way, and holding onto my dreams. But unlike most people, I’m writing the stories that are stuck in my head.