Taking Time to Regroup

This always happens to me in April - baseball starts and I go nuts trying to get kids to practices, games, and still help with homework, projects, and make dinner.  And then I added in lacrosse.

It definitely doesn't help that I'm trying to get our Easter/Spring Break trip to Washington, DC organized AND continue with my other blog (www.500placeswithkids.com)  AND continue with writing and figuring out what I want to do with my other two projects I've let slide.

So yesterday I took a break.  I organized my thoughts on a nonfiction book proposal that has been going nowhere and decided to let it sit until I received more feedback from an agent I sent it to.  Hopefully, I'll hear back from her (and if I don't, I'll be seeing her on Sunday when I attend the New York conference of the International Woman's Writing Guild - too impolite to say hey? what's the deal?)  Meanwhile I'm going to grow my audience with my blog (or my platform) and do some promo work on Shutterfly as a member of their Beta group for a new product.

I also decided to take a new look at my dad's memoir that I helped cowrite.  It, too, has been going nowhere so I decided to get some feedback from Michael Larsen of Larsen and Pomoda who specializes in nonfiction proposals.  Unfortunately, that means I new a rough proposal for a book that is finished.

Sigh.  Time to research the market and do all the lovely stuff associated with that.

So where does that leave Pandora's Box??  Patiently waiting until things calm down a bit.  Right now I have too much on my platter.  A nonfiction travel book proposal, a travel blog, querying agents for my father's memoir, and writing a proposal for my father's memoir.  Add in my normal life and it's too much.

Pandora's Box is temporarily shelved until I have some breathing room.  But lest you think I'm going to forget about it, I plan on taking the time away from the computer to research some of the details I want to include and more importantly, READ in my genre.

Because you see, there is no point in writing a steampunk story (if that's truly what it is . . . it may a paranormal fantasy romance . . .) if I don't know what to include (or not to include).

Until further notice, the word count will stay where it is.  And I plan instead on using this blog to deal with my other issues.  A nice little diary if you will . . .