Multi-Tasking Mom

I've never been a routine writer. I just end up psyching myself out whenever I try to force the words to come. The creative monkey in my brain gets all nervous and shuts down. Before baby, I'd write whenever ideas came to me. Now, A.B. (after baby) I can't really pull the little guy out of the bath to jot down a scene. I was going crazy with how slowly it was going.

I called up my friend/critique partner/editor Holly, and we decided we'd start trading chapters every Monday. It has been such a life saver. Just enough peer pressure to get me thinking/writing. I don't sit down at a set time every day, but knowing I have to get her the next chapter by Monday pushes me to make it work when ideas start flowing. Just the other day I was washing dishes, writing, and watching Matthew all at once. Now...I know what you're thinking. Water, electronic devises, and babies don't mix. True. But I had him in the high chair playing. I would wash a few plates. Dry my hands. Type. Type. Type. Then talk a little baby talk. Then do it all again. It was slow, but still awesome.

When Holly and I started, I had the first 3 chapters pretty much complete, but the rest of the manuscript was in a thousand different pieces scattered throughout 80 or so pages. Now I have the first 12 chapters of COTG #3 completely done (in crappy first draft form at least) and I have 130 pages.

Hooray for multi-tasking! Now...if I could just find a way to add a little more blogging to the mix ;) 

How do you handle it all? Anyone out there an expert multi-tasker?

Elyse as you’ve never seen her before…

If you read YA, chances are you’ve come to expect to meet your main character before ever opening the book. The pretty faces of strong heroines stare back at you from the bookshelves. Cover after cover they temp us to turn the page.

The great thing about “face covers” as some call them, is they give readers someone to picture. With each new book, we’re given another look at our leading lady.

…but wouldn’t it be neat if we could see our main characters in a new light? Well, for readers of my series, Children of the Gods, I’ve decided to do just that. On the cover of my books you meet Elyse, my main character.

The model’s name is Rowena Radings. She’s very nice and was kind enough to share some of her portfolio. Here is Elyse as you’ve never seen her before…

Novel Fashion Week!

Hey all! Katrina over at Kindred Dreamheart is in love with two things: fashion & books. She's hosting an awesome event called Novel Fashion week. It's day one of the event today! Check out my post on cover models and see my main character, Elyse, ripping up the runway!

[[Psssst]] There's also a $10 iTunes gift card giveaway. What are you waiting for?! Click HERE to check it out.