What a hoot! I opened up the various guest blogs I wrote during the virtual tour for the My Dearest Mr. Darcy release and this one was next in line, perfectly falling on the schedule when I will be crazy busy at the RWA conference. Time, and how to manage to DO IT ALL will be heavy on my mind amid the fun!! And here is a blog written ages ago that touches on just how difficult time management is for a writer. Perhaps I have learned to handle it all better...... but then again, maybe not! LOL! Either way, enjoy. I will be back soon with conference and vacation news.

"Time! There is no time!" by Sharon Lathan

Jack Bauer has nothing on me. OK, I am not saving the world and the president has never called me up for a one on one convo. But when it comes to feeling as if the clock is loudly ticking with the thum-thum-thum of doom, I totally get Jack’s grim panic. Too bad I can’t do the scratchy, sexy voice…. But that is for another discussion!

My life as a hopeful writer was a fairly leisurely one. Sure, I had the real life job, family, housekeeping duties, etc. to keep me from writing in ten-hour blocks. Yet, when I was writing for fun and personal pleasure the demands were not as great and it was easy to drown out the few distractions.

There is no denying that nearly from the moment I signed that first contract my time shrunk. It almost was visible! I swear the hands on the clock began to spin faster! The added responsibilities of marketing myself, running the blog, and the process of editing – while still working at the hospital and trying to keep the house functioning – crunched into that leisurely writing time.

Am I complaining? Oh no! Heaven forbid! I love being published and am having a blast with my blog, the launch activities and touring, the guest speeches, and working with my editor. However, the truth is the truth and I don’t believe in burying my head in the sand in denial.

So, how do I juggle it all? Have I discovered the magic secret? Ha! I wish! Every day is a balancing act. Some weeks I feel really good about what I have accomplished and pat myself on the back for being so organized and focused. Then another curve ball is thrown my direction and I have to reevaluate. The hardest part for me has been to accept that large portions are beyond my control. This Type-A gal does not like to be out of control! I haven’t completely mastered shrugging nonchalantly, but I am daily improving in the art of deep breathing – and prayer!

Discipline truly is the key to balancing a writer’s life. Fortunately I am fairly disciplined. Unfortunately my work schedule does not allow me to be on a set writing schedule. So I have to reapply the careful planning on a daily and weekly basis. Simple aids like a large calendar in my office help me to see what is ahead so I can prepare. Retreating to my office where I can concentrate is essential.

I keep my goals achievable. I am not one who can force myself to write X number of words a day. Rather I look at each task and set a time limit on when it needs to be done. I also refuse to panic or beat myself up if I am unable to accomplish a goal. Instead I look at why it was not done, decide if it was due to a fault of my own that I can correct or avoid in the future, or just the result of circumstances. So far I have managed to be ahead of every deadline and never have missed an appointment. That is pretty good! And it restores hope when I do sense the tendrils of panic setting in!

Clinging to the “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” adage is a lifesaver. It is very easy to succumb to the incessant demands and need to write. Thus, getting away from the computer and letting go is vital to keeping my sanity intact. Watching TV or a movie, reading books, playing silly games, lunch dates with friends – all of these entertainments are abundantly worth the time cost.

My job offers an outlet for me too. I work in a very intense environment: a neonatal ICU. My profession is a passionate love, my workplace an opportunity to socialize with friends, and my tasks mind consuming. In general I can’t be dwelling too intently on Darcy and Lizzy when I have very sick babies who need my constant attention! Alaine asked if my job was an inspiration. Certainly it is in writing of Lizzy’s pregnancy and birth, as well as the antics of their baby, since this is my area of expertise. But I think the greatest inspiration comes from the diversion; from being forced to turn off “author Sharon” and turn on “nurse Sharon.”

There is no solution to the limits of 24 hours in a day. I keep hoping but time travel hasn’t been invented yet, so that option is out! Discipline, organization, upbeat attitude, persistence…. yada, yada yada. If all that fails, I just think of Jack Bauer. After all, if he can save the world in 24 hours, anything is possible.

Today, as this posts, I am hanging out with my family in the deepest part of the South, probably dying from the oppressive humidity or being attacked by a foot-long bug of some kind. Still, I am sure I am having a great time! Hopefully all of you are watching Matthew in Pillars of the Earth, a treat awaiting me when I return home and power up the DVR, which I will be doing ASAP. For now, spare a wee spot of time to read this insightful blog from the My Dearest Mr. Darcy virtual tour. It was for My Book Addiction and Wendy asked me two questions. This was my response---

"Why I Write a Saga" by Sharon Lathan

I was cleaning my books shelves recently – yes, in the plural! – and thinking about what I write in relation to two questions that are often asked of me. They are, “What is your favorite book?” and “How has it influenced your writing of the Darcy Saga?”

The answer to the first question that immediately pops into my mind each time is JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. It is my favorite book and has been since I first read it at the age of 13, right after reading The Hobbit for the first time. I reread it roughly every year and have read most of Tolkien’s works numerous times as well. Tolkien is the master of fantasy, and reading his creation led me to embrace the fantasy genre as a whole. There is no denying that out of the many thousands of books I have read in my lifetime, the bulk of them have been fantasy.

However, I write historical fiction with strong romantic elements. At first glance this seems at odds with what I typically read. If LOTR is my favorite book and fantasy my favorite genre, how in the world could that influence my writing? There are no scary creatures, no magic, and no other universes in Jane Austen’s story or in mine. So what gives?

Believe me, I have thought about what appears to be a contradiction many times. My husband still insists that I should write fantasy since that is obviously what I know and love best! Yet what he also forgets, and what cleaning my shelves reminded me of, is the breadth to my collection of books.

Among my earliest reading memories are the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, everything by Louisa May Alcott, and massive epic stories like Gone With the Wind and Centennial and Shogun.  I own the entire John Jakes’ Kent Family Chronicles, Stephen King’s Gunslinger novels, the continuing sagas by Howard Fast, Robert Ludlum, and Diana Gabaldon. All of them have been read dozens of times.

Do you see a pattern? And have you ever noticed that most fantasy books are part of a trilogy or more? Heck, Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind are working on double digits in both of their series! 

After a bit of introspection, it now feels perfectly natural that I would end up writing a continuing saga. In nearly every one of my favorite books, including Lord of the Rings, there is the common thread of lengthy stories unfolding, in some cases, over decades. I love this! For me books offer a refuge and the characters become dear friends that I want to visit and live with. I never tire of my beloved characters and the worlds they inhabit. I am delirious with joy when the author decides to write more of them, to give me a new book that will reveal more of their lives and take me on a new adventure with them. And if the author does not do that, I just read the same book a second or tenth time!

Another common thread I see in my collection is extreme world building and depth of story. Fantasy and Sci-fi are known for world building, of course, but any well-written novel that needs to transport the reader to a place unfamiliar must rely on the same tactics. Richness in vocabulary, detailed history, gritty realism, and comprehensive exposition are hallmarks of a perfect book, to me anyway.

I know that this desire to dwell with characters I love is what primarily inspired me to continue the life of Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy. I was not content to say good-bye at the end of Jane Austen’s classic novel! I hungered for more and when I could not find a sequel that satisfied that hunger, I wrote it myself!

Additionally, I saw this as my chance to truly live with characters I love, within a historic world I love, and to do so on MY terms! I would not be at the mercy of another author who may decide to kill off a person I adore, go in some bizarre direction, or ignore a preferred storyline entirely. I am in control! And I love it!

Thank you, Wendy, for asking the questions that allowed me to put into words how I feel about saga-themed stories. There is nothing wrong with a single story novel. I have a million of those on my shelves also! But if any of those authors wrote a sequel, I would be on it like white on rice.