J.A. Pitts

With Great Hope and Trepidation

I have this thing about meeting my deadlines. It’s an important aspect of who I am. I’m not perfect by any means, but I do strive to meet my obligations.

Last night, before midnight, I sent the next Sarah Beauhall book off to my editor in New York. My contract said deliver on May 1st and according to my computer, it was still May 1st.

I wish I’d gotten this one turned in earlier, but life has been much busier than I expected. All good stuff, mind you. While I consider writing a full-time career, I have a day job that fluctuates between busy and insane. Don’t get me wrong, I dearly love what I do for a living. There are just times where the the day job either eats up a lot of hours, or most of my brain space.

I have learned to participate in a sport we like to call “work/life balance”. Like many sports, some days you win, some days you lose. But in the end, you are better off for having played the game.

And now, with the third Sarah Beauhall book sitting on my editors desk, I’m in a bit of a jagged space. I’ve completed my contract. There are no more books that have to be written (today). Instead, I will read the two manuscripts I have on my desk (and excited to do so). I’ll do a little Girl Scout camping here soon and basically try to decompress from this last novel push.

I’m giving myself two weeks. Then I’m picking up a different project. I want to do some major surgery on the first novel I wrote and get it out to my agent to see if it can find a home in the world. I have some short stories I want to write and I have notes for the next book in the Sarah Beauhall series tickling the back of my brain.

No shortage of work in my life, that’s for sure.

« Necessity of Blindness: guest blog post at Grasping For The Wind | Norse Mythology, Thor (the movie) and Black Blade Blues »