When 24 hours isn't quite enough ...

Does anyone else find that a 24-hour day often isn’t quite enough to do all those things that need to be done and all those things we want to do? I have always had a great deal of difficulty with this as I am one of those people who never gets bored. I have a range of interests and have sometimes been known to waste an entire afternoon because I have so many things I want to do that I can’t make up my mind which one to choose.

In April last year I reluctantly left a full time job of three years (I won’t go into the circumstances here) and found myself unemployed. My first priority was to find work, so finishing Mine to Avenge was consigned to the backburner for a while. I decided not to give myself permission to touch the novel again until I had a job.

The months between April and September 2011 were spent downsizing into a small one-room granny flat, applying for jobs, and going for interviews. So even though my novel had been set aside, I honed my writing skills on job applications and found that they were very successful as I had a 96% success rate with landing interviews - but kept missing out at the interview stage.

In September I was finally offered a half time position, and gave myself permission to finish Mine to Avenge. I found that although a half time job is not ideal in terms of finances, for the past 10 months I have been able to fit things in and get things done, as I have only been working 2 days one week (Thurs/Fri) and 3 the next (Wed - Fri), giving me a lovely long weekend every week to write. As well as writing, I also like to do calligraphy and had a few small commissions to do in that time.

Half time work is ideal for a writer. Also, living in a small granny flat means little housework and more writing time. It has been an excellent trade off for the lack of money - for a while at least. It meant that I have been able to finish Mine to Avenge and get it to publishing stage, but I have found that I can’t continue only working half time. I need full time on-going work.

A few months ago I was asked at work if I’d like to accept a temporary full time position to fill in for three months while a colleague is away on leave. I accepted and have just finished my first week of full-time employment in 15 months.

I will certainly appreciate the increased income for that time, but of course this means I have lost my writing time at a crucial stage in terms of getting Mine to Avenge published. My editor has finished the final edits, and I am quite a way behind. I heard from the publisher on Friday, saying that they are ready to move on production as soon as I return the manuscript to them and give them the go ahead. So things are a little hectic at the moment as I learn again how to fit all those things I want and need to do into only two days, but I hope to have the novel back to the publisher by next weekend, if I can finish the edits and read the entire manuscript through once more. And I am also still writing job applications for when the three months temporary position is ended, so things are somewhat busy right now.

 I want to thank readers for the feedback and votes for the novel cover. I am still undecided because public opinion has been almost evenly divided. I have been considering a few other minor changes based on some of the comments I received. If you haven’t voted yet and would like to, please scroll down and let me know if you prefer the light or the dark version.

Now to catch up with those last chapters of the final edit…