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Guest Blogger: Melanie Atkins
Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

Disrupted Schedules and Kitty Alarms

This week is a killer. I’m trying to finish a book with my deadline looming, and I have so much other stuff to do. It’s frustrating. A lot of my time revolves around taking my ninety-year-old mother to her doctor appointments, to get her hair done, etc. I don’t mind; I love the time we spend together, and I’m thankful for it. Except it doesn’t allow me enough time to write.

Disrupted schedules are the bane of a writer’s existence. I love having big arcs of time so I can dig deep into my story and get into a rhythm, but then I have to stop and take my mom to the eye doctor or her dentist or maybe even keep my granddaughter for a couple of hours. The next day is what I call “hair day”, that lovely weekly appointment marked for my mother’s beauty salon appointment from now until eternity. Hair appointments are non-negotiable. At least I can take my laptop with me and write in the back of the shop while she’s getting beautiful. Then the next day…

You see how it goes. And then there’s the lack of sleep caused by my furry little friends. My sweet, innocent, unassuming little feline pals. The three wicked, crafty little minxes that wake me up an hour before my alarm goes off — usually by playing with the window blinds — because they either want to go outside or they need water or food. Seriously, who needs to eat at four a.m.? I do love those cats, I really do… but their kitty alarm clocks need to be reset and I haven’t figured out how to do that yet.

What about you? How do you cope with disrupted schedules? I carve minutes out of all the busy days, minutes in which I can at least jot down a few plot points or make character notes. I’m interested to find out what you do about time management… and if you, too, have an annoying little kitty alarm clock.

Somehow, amid the chaos, I do manage to find time write. My genre of choice is romantic suspense with hot cops and big guns. Please check out my latest ebook release from Desert Breeze Publishing, DELIVERANCE FROM EVIL, the fourth book in my Keller County Cops series. In this book, Tessa Doucet studied mortuary science because the dead can’t hurt her. Then a monster from her past turns up on her embalming table, and she’s forced to confront the demon she thought she’d put to rest. Disturbed by the case Tessa stirs up, Detective Cash Starkey finds himself falling for her, even though he swore to keep his distance. He doesn’t want a relationship, especially not with a woman running from her past. Yet when Tessa’s life is threatened, he runs into the fray, and together they defeat her demons and put the past behind them.

Buy link:  http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-301/Keller-County-Cops-Book/Detail.bok

Also… hope you’ll check out my new free author apps for the iPhone, the iPad, and most Android devices available now in the iTunes store and the Android market. Such an easy way for my readers to keep up with all my books, connect with my social networking sites, and get updates on new titles and where I’ll be signing. I’m really jazzed about this!

And please look for these upcoming titles from Desert Breeze later this year:

Emily’s Nightmare — August
Haunted Memories — October
KKC Book Five: Written in Blood — December

 

Website:  http://www.melanieatkins.com
Blog: http://melanieatkins.wordpress.com
Facebook:  http://www.face-book.com/melanie.atkins
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/melanie_atkins

3 comments to “Guest Blogger: Melanie Atkins”

  1. Deb Carter
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    1
    · June 6th, 2012 at 12:00 pm · Link

    Since I’m not a published author as of yet and still learning the craft I don’t have that deadline to worry about. But as I am caring for my dad who is 78 years old and had a stroke 10 years ago I know where you are coming from. Don’t have cats but have 2 dogs that sometimes has to wake my sister and I up in the middle of the night because they heard a deer or something. Then there is the other stuff that needs to be done making a few quilts by hand before Christmas, cleaning the house and outside. There is also the garden to get ready for planting now along with the weeding of flower beds. Besides trying to carve out some time to write I also have to find time to work on family tree with my dad. So as I find some weeks where all I get done is maybe write a few notes on story ideas. As for the the dogs wanting to drink or eat in the night or early in the morning we have a feeder for the food and put out 2 bowls of water before we go to bed. Right now our schedule is not far from the dogs wanting up. We get up every morning at 6 during the week and they have been trying to get us going at 5:30. So I guess life can be worse and I just do what I can. I change what I can and what I can’t change I work with it.



  2. Mary Preston
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    2
    · June 7th, 2012 at 3:23 am · Link

    I think my entire life is a series of disrupted schedules. I basically cope by acceptance. Such is life!! Mine at least.



  3. ELF
    Comment
    3
    · June 8th, 2012 at 1:13 am · Link

    Maybe you can try vigorous games of chase the feather earlier in the day to tire the kitties (-: There also may be feeder with timers that you can set to release in the middle of the night and distract them!



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