​There’s something about airports that gets me in the writing mood. It’s probably because any time I’m in the airport, by default it means that I’m not on call/working at the Day Job. (Okay, that’s kind of a fib. I totally just logged off the EMR where I was putting out a few fires right before this plane boards. Anyway.)
 
There’s a saying in medicine: “You want care that is Good, Fast, and Cheap? Just know that you can’t have all three – you have to pick two.” Yes, there might be some public health folks who disagree, but just go with me on this one, because in broad brushstrokes, it’s true.
 
You know what else is true? I can’t have Medicine, Manuscripts, and Mayhem all at the same time. I have to pick two to focus on at any given time. As writers, we’re always picking two out of the three things. Or sometimes we’re choosing two out of four or more aspects of our lives for our focs! We’re making that seesaw balance, back and forth, all the time.

​We’ve heard so much about burnout. There are articles in my medical journals about physician burnout, Posts about burnout for writers, and articles about physical burnout in my trail running magazines. In each of these documents, the guidance is clear: take time for yourself. That’s cool.
 
But what happens when you don’t have the time to take?
 
What happens when everything fries at once?
 
So, quick update for those of you who don’t know me yet. I’m a family doc who does deliveries (FP/Ob) near  The End Of The Earth. It’s rural, and no we don’t have specialists. FP’s do most stuff. In my clinic, I’m it for Ob – we don’t have another FP/Ob on site for my group, so I workity-work as long as I think I can go, then get a locums doctor to come in and cover for a few weeks while I try to recharge. Only this time, nothing is recharging. I pushed beyond what was prudent over the past three months and it caught up to me in a nasty hurry.

​Is your writing in a routine or a rut? How do we get our brains in “writing mode” when it’s time to put proverbial pen to paper? Here are some of my techniques from the doctor/writer perspective.
 
#1) Breakfast. Always breakfast first. I cannot create on an empty tummy. I don’t see how you are able to write a chapter while still fasting.
 
#2) Caffeine substance of your choice. My favorite is diet Dr. Pepper. Yes, I understand about chemicals and aspartame, but lordie help me, this is literally my only vice in the whole wide world. Let me have it. It makes my brain go!

​Well, that’s not a potentially hot-button title at all, is it?
 
Disclaimer: In general, I kind of hate politics. But when it comes to healthcare and advocating for my patients and family, then yes, I have opinions. My position is pretty much if a politician is a bastard to human beings, then I don’t support that behavior. That’s quite cursory. I have other opinions, but voting based on whether the politician actually has a soul seems like a good place to start.
 
So, here’s the situation that got me thinking. I was at a writing conference last year, chatting with a nice woman who sat next to me for dinner one evening. We were discussing how the most recent governmental cruel and cold decisions would likely hurt many of my patients and family members. You know – the usual kind of conversation a preoccupied doctor might have in a time of political upheaval. (At least – I hope that most doctors feel outrage about how patients are potentially being hurt by current decision-making.)
 
Anyway, our conversation then turned to the usual conference discussions about what kind of books we wrote and enjoyed reading. She wrote historicals based in Scotland, which I think is pretty cool. (Because … kilts!) I then mentioned that I had a paranormal western series that had started earlier in the year.

​Man, I hate to call them “resolutions” because the word sounds so formal, so big, and so insurmountable. But for the first time in a long time, I feel the need to make a list about the upcoming year, if only to bring focus to the next 365 days. Also, it’s scary to write these things down for all to see – but it’s important to keep doing stuff that scares me. So here goes…
 
Medical goals:
 
#1) Get better at saying “no” to more call/more duties/more meetings and not feel any guilt when saying “no”.
 
#2) Complete a 4-year longitudinal leadership course to create future non-clinical opportunities.
 
#3) Cease being afraid/too modest to describe my experience, background, and strengths.
 
#4) Focus on patient care, and try to ignore all other BS. If it’s not about patient care, I’m not spending time/energy on it.
 
#5) Seek out leadership opportunities.
 
#6) Champion development of a resident training program at my hospital.

This Thanksgiving season, I’m thankful for the opportunity to write books and share them with readers. (And they hopefully enjoy them, too!) Recently, I’ve been thinking about the (dumb) luck that got me to point. Maybe if I remind myself of these mistakes, I can go even further.
 
#1) Submitted too early. Didn’t know the book wasn’t ready.
 
#2) Submitted too late. Didn’t know when to stop editing and missed an opportunity regarding a timely topic.
 
#3) Queried in bunches of 30. Yes, 30. And yes, that’s embarrassing and thankfully was a long, long time ago with a book that shall never see the light of day. Spoiler alert/no surprise: I did not succeed with this book.

Interested in free Paranormal Romance reads? Or maybe 50 bucks? Either way, feel free to check out this awesome group promo that includes...yours truly.  :)

And as always -- happy reading!

​Recently, I had a great time at  Emerald City Writers’ Conference  and did a talk on Fastdrafting 101. A few questions came up after this talk that I wanted to address here. I may have answered some of the questions, but honestly, the first 20-30 minutes of that talk was like an out-of-body experience, due to nerves. Also, if I cussed during that time, I'm super sorry... (sometimes I say bad things when I'm super nervous)
 
As we approach NaNoWriMo, the fastdrafting materials might be helpful for those WriMo-ers out there gearing up for November!
 
Here are my prior fastdrafting blog posts, if you would like a refresher/cautionary tale…
 
Part 1: I've got an idea!
 
Part 2: Bad decision making, for sure, but what could possibly go wrong?
 
Part 3: Uh oh...

Some of you know the drill: Whenever I do a reader event or book signing, I have a rule. Any reader who signs up for my newsletter during the event gets entered in a drawing for free books.

As promised, I took the new newsletter subscribers and used a random number generator. (Not hubby this time, either!)

The winner of a digital copy of the entire Hell to Pay paranormal romance series is:

Tanya P

​
Winners of a digital copy of my first book, Immortal Flame are:

Vella M
Lee H
Colleen M

I'll be sending out emails to the winners.

Big thanks to all the readers who came by to check out my books and to chat. It was a super fun evening!

Thank you again and happy reading!

I had the best time in Cedar Falls, Iowa last weekend at the Romance Rendezvous event. If you've ever hung out with me at a reader event or book signing, you know the deal: Anyone who signs up for my newsletter is entered in a drawing to win BOOKS!

Using a random number generator (on the computer -- not hubby this time), the winner of the entire Hell to Pay series is : Nicole M.

Winners of my first book, Immortal Flame are:
Elva R.
Marialee D.

I'll email you all this week and get these digital copies right out to you!

Thanks again to all the awesome readers who came to Romance Rendezvous. I look forward to seeing you all again at future events!