God bless naps!
The main question I get asked after someone finds out I'm an author - especially when my second book is being released less than six months after my previous book - is, when do you have time to write?
I've been getting this question a lot more recently since my youngest was only 4 months old when The Misadventures of Catie Bloom was released. Which means, yes, I had a toddler and a newborn in the house while I was not only writing my next book The Adventures of Natalie Bloom but marketing my first book like mad.
These days, whether you're traditionally published or an Indie author, you get little support on the marketing side of things, so it's all up to me! I've got to promote, promote, promote, and find a way to break through the noise of everything else that's being thrown at everyone. To say hey, look over here!! I've got this book you might like! Luckily, people do like the book, so that's made it slightly easier. Slightly.
But back to the question: when do I have time to write?
What I have to say to that is god bless nap time! And preschool! And *cringe* TV! At this very moment the baby is napping and I've stuck my toddler in front of the TV so I can write this. She's watching Octonauts, so I kid myself that it's educational. I mean, it is educational. When we go to an aquarium now (we live in South Florida so that happens, like, all the time) she knows heaps more than me about all the fish in the tanks. But it's still a cartoon.
When I became a mother I stuck my chin in the air and said I would not use TV as a babysitter. Ha! Hahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!
As I wipe my eyes, I also forgive myself. A working mom's gotta do, what a working mom's gotta do! Actually, a mom's gotta do, what a mom's gotta do!! Working or not!
So, yeah. I basically don't straighten the house until the weekends when hubby is home. And I broke down and hired cleaners once a month to do the deeper cleaning. And I write (or do marketing - ugh) during every single nap time. And I haven't binge watched a show (except Stranger Things!) since I gave birth. Because I also gave birth to my first book right after I gave birth to my second child. And I haven't stopped since!
After the third installment of The Bloom Sisters is released next summer, I've promised myself I'll take a little break. But by than I may actually have a bit more time to write and binge watch the second season of Stranger Things, so maybe I won't need a break. Maybe.