I'm thinking.....

......... still thinking..........

I knew my blog day was fast approaching and kept telling myself I have plenty of time, even though February always flies by so fast because there are only 28 days in the month...two or three less than any other month, yet the lack of those two days seem to make a difference in how long you have to procrastinate.

So, of course, here I sit, staring at my computer screen hoping inspiration will hit between games of Spider Solitaire and Words With Friends. I’m usually really good at thinking quick on my feet, but writing a blog post (even one I do once a month) can be daunting. You’d think as a writer, writing a blog post would come easy....not so much. When you’re penning your missive there is always one thought niggling at the base of your brain: is anyone going to enjoy this post--if they bother to read past the babble, that is?  Of course that thought is quick-stepping around my skull with everything else I’m doing. It’s been a busy year!

Along with my good friend Heather Palmer, I volunteered to coordinate my chapter conference...Desert Dreams. I knew it was going to be a lot of work, and I wasn’t worried about that. Heather and I work well together and we’re both perfectionists. We’ve put together a fantastic conference with some fabulous speakers and workshops and TEN agents and editors! If you’ve never been to a writing conference and you feel somewhat intimidated about them, then Desert Dreams is definitely the place to ‘get your feet wet’. It’s such a fun, relaxed atmosphere with so many wonderful people, it’s like going to a giant family reunion!

Anyway, the conference is in April and once that’s done, I’ll head to Denver for the RomCon convention....I think I’m doing a workshop...but I haven’t heard yet. After Denver I’ll head to San Antonio for the RWA conference, where I will be chairing the Literacy Signing for the third year in a row! After San Antonio my daughter turns twenty one and we’re going to celebrate in Vegas Baby!  But, between now and all of that, I’m in the process of reading nine books before March 19th for two different contests as well as preparing to re-release my fourth book Dark Obsession (May 5th) and complete the follow-up Body & Soul. Does it make you tired just reading that?? Yeah...it’s no wonder my muse goes into hiding.  

Lucky for me, I’m a good multi-tasker and I love a challenge...and believe me, it's been challenging. ;-) 

The Blur—Is It Harming Our Ability To Focus?

 Once upon a time, fall was the dividing line between summer vacation and school. Now most schools resume in August, nipping at summer’s heels. This divide has been blurred, if not erased. In the white-collar world, weekends and vacations were once held sacrosanct, a time for family, friends, and rejuvenation, not to be interrupted except for a true emergency. Now I see my nieces and nephews tethered to their jobs nights, weekends and vacation days by cell phones and laptops. The divide between their work lives and private lives has vanished.

Do shorter summer breaks make our young students smarter? Does the inability to escape professional demands for short time periods make us more productive?

Perhaps I’m just not good at multi-tasking. Maybe it’s a defect that I long for those old-time borders that are not crossed without good reason. As an author, I wish peer and publisher expectations would give writers a little more slack to disappear from social media for weeks at a time to write. Perhaps then the promotion, when it comes, would be more exuberant, more creative. But it’s now considered a no-no for authors to hibernate for weeks (and certainly not months) to focus on drafting or fine-tuning a manuscript. To be successful, we’re told we must spend time every day—or at least several times a week—on social networking and promotion.  And, if we do take a creative sabbatical or vacation, we must apologize for our absence on social media, our failure to re-tweet, share posts, comment on blogs.

I just attended a Writers Police Academy (a terrific experience), and one of the speakers was Dr. Katherine Ramsland, a forensic psychologist and the author of more than 40 books, many relating to how our minds work. In her presentation, Dr. Ramsland said only one percent of people can genuinely multitask. What's more, she noted that habitual attempts at multitasking can damage our ability to focus and concentrate.

Since I'm writing a blog, I obviously believe in participating in social media. However, how much time should be devoted to it is a question I need to answer. How many of you (authors or other professionals) would like to disconnect from social media for a stretch of time—with no apologies—to concentrate on creative endeavors? If this is one of your daydreams, what’s stopping you? Would your networking/promotional efforts truly suffer if you took the occasional sabbatical?