Happy Season????? Silly Season!!!!!

Who said this was 'happy' season? More like here's a years load of stress, she what you can do with it. Silly Season is far closer. Christmas is always a busy time, what with getting every one's presents, kids end of school activities, preparing for some time off, working out where you need to be on what day's, the list is endless. Try doing all that plus getting organised to be away from home for 4 weeks. Not just away from home but out of country. First you need to sort out what has to be taken with you, eg: chrissie presents, clothes, chargers, any work you might need to do while away. Then there's what needs to be done before you leave the house for four weeks (for me that's proving a little easy, Melma will be here), are the animals organised? Snickers is looking forward to having Melma's undivided attention. As the mother I've got to make sure the kids have got everything they need before I can even start getting my own stuff together. Then there's the little things you want to do before going, hair cuts, nails done (girls), de-fur if you're off to a sunny climate (we're live in one so that's up to date), purchase those last minute things to take with you, get the last dentist appointment in before going. Make sure all work is handed in before you leave. This one is hard, I might not get paid for reviewing but it's an everyday job, I need to read and review all the time. I try to be reading a book everyday, some of them I can read in one day, others take longer, once they're read I like to 'sit' on it for a few hours at least before doing the review, so I'm 'working' every day. This requires internet access. I have 24/7 access here but when we're in Sydney I won't have that, so I've been working like a madman to get as many reviews in before end of month as I can. That way it won't matter too much if I can only get a couple done while we're away. Last week I did six reviews bringing my total for the month to 14 (our month ends on the 25th), so I'm well ahead there. But that's meant no writing. I have jotted quite a few notes though, this latest story has me branching out in the paranormal/fantasy genre, and for a first attempt it's not that bad. I've also had another look at my ms that has given me nothing but grief for over a year now. I made a change that, well let's say it wasn't the best change, and when I'd been through the whole thing I realised I'd pretty much destroyed the story. Sooooo.... back I went to remove the change and stand all those domino's back up. Now, I'm back to square one with it and don't really want to talk about it, never mind look at it. So Devon's doing that. Isn't she wonderful! Yep, she's been kind enough to offer and I'm not stupid, so off it went. Now I just get to sit here biting my nails until she's finished with the red pen. (cringe) So there's a good chance that it'll be ready to send out in the new year, (more cringing) which is scary, not the being ready part, the sending out part. the writers life is full with fear of rejection but you can't get accepted without putting yourself up for rejection so it's just a matter of sucking it up and sticking you head on the chopping block. I'm trying to get my head around that, and I will but in the mean time I've got to get back on the keyboard, drag the muse out of the cupboard and start writing again. I need to be more disciplined, I know I lost a lot of it when I got sick and I'm finally back on my feet again so I'll be pulling that into line too. But I got to say it's really hard to do when you've got so much going on. It's only six days til I fly to Sydney and it'll be a month before we're back, that's an awful long time away from home. I'm looking forward to spending time with friends and family, some we haven't seen in 8 months or more, catching up with what's been going on and who's been doing what. I'm also looking forward to not getting up at 6am to get the kids on the bus by 7:20am, they're even happier about that. With every thing we've got planned for while we're down in Sydney it'll be interesting to see if I can get any writing done. I will be doing reviews because there's no way I'm not going to read. Plus I've stocked up on a few e-books, ready for lying in the sun with a cold drink. I will update before we go and while we're there, I'm just not sure how much access I'll have but I promise to be on once a week at least. Even if I have to drive to the library.
Okay, off to check the shopping list to see what needs to be bought today.
'See' you soon.

Happy holidays this Silly Season.

Rachel.C