Do Not Take The Summer Off! A Narrative by Bossy Ruthy

Urgent message from a mom and grandmom:

Krista Phillips needs our prayers and support. Our love. And if you could offer that to her, and prayers for little Annabelle who's story you'll find HERE...

I would be most grateful.

Because I can YELL at you anytime. I've proven that.

But this baby and her family needs us, our love, our prayers, our support.

I met Krista through Seekerville, and she's delightful.

But I'd ask you to do this even if she wasn't.

But don't you dare tell on me.

______________________________________________

I only pretend to be nice.

Or maybe I only pretend to be mean.

I confuse myself.

BUT...

What I don't pretend about EVER....

Is work.

Hi, my name is Ruthy and I'm a Martha-type.

I do not need an intervention.

I do not need a pill to make me sleep, I'm quite tired at night, thanks so much.

I love to write. I have waited all my life to write. Ergo:

I write.

THIS IS A QUIET WRITING COMPANION, AVAILABLE FOR LESS THAN $1.

AND THEN THERE'S THIS:

My work ethic hasn't changed since becoming published.

(Thank You Melissa Endlich and Joan Marlow Golan!!!)

If anything, it's grown because...

Yes.

This cute guy and little kid are eating my CAKE BATTER out of the bowl. Really???? These two are part of my inspiration for great heroes who do well with kids. And note the baby on floor... And the Keurig in the background. Country Casual, that's my name. Writin's my game.

SOMEONE IS PAYING ME TO DO WHAT I LIKE MOST!

Seriously. How cool is that? How amazing and awesome is THAT????

In all seriousness, a strong work ethic is your best friend.
Cheryl St. John and I joked about it last week, but it's true.

Many new authors fail because they don't work hard enough.

Should I repeat that?

Really?

Like once wasn't enough?

Do not let this happen to you. Plan your work. Work your plan. This is effective in sales, in marketing and yes, in writing. It's too easy when you're self-employed to let EVERYTHING affect:
Your time

Your work.

Your day.

Your week.

Your month.

Gag.

Life offers stumbling blocks regularly. We've discussed this. We all know it. And yet, we still find ourselves behind the 8-ball when the chips are down. If it happens once, it's unfortunate. Twice, it's a shame and we all commiserate.

More than twice???


Usually that means your work time isn't afforded the deference it deserves. And don't give me a pity party, please. Are ya' kiddin' me? This is me with the six kids, ten grandkids, eight puppies to sell (well, six now) four dogs, one of whom is due to deliver next week, a cat, a kitten, chickens, fifty acres, yard work, oh, and let's throw the full-time job in for fun. And a beloved father-in-law who's been in and out of hospice and health crises for five months. Dad's got a great constitution that keeps fighting and he's in advanced stages of Alzheimers. So that keeps my sweet husband over at Mom and Dad's a lot, and that's okay. That's how it should be.


And most o' youse know me well enough to know what gets left for whenever: housework.


And this week I realized that with my current work load, I needed help so I bit the bullet (with Teeeeena's kick in the pants, thanks Teeenster) and spent the bucks and hired a virtual assistant, someone to help organize and expedite mailings, keep my reader letters directed to me so they don't get lost in the "IN" box, help with a coming newsletter, and just generally be a virtual secretary whose job hours can grow with my career. And I hired her because:


I'd rather write. I love to write. I wake up, longing to see what happens.

I rarely do pity-parties for anyone, least of all myself, so if you find yourself in time constraints continually, re-plan. Re-strategize. Re-prioritize. Re-something, please. Pretty please. Because:


IT IS SO MUCH FUN TO BE AHEAD OF THE GAME.


Really. Truly. Delightful fun. And Patty Smith Hall did a great job of pressing the point as well. I'm sensing a theme...

Working hard equates success.

Remember Edison and the 5,000 attempts at a working light bulb? And his famous quote: "What if I decided to stop at 4,999?"

You can do this. Yes, you can, it's just a matter of delegating time like we talked about last week. Remember the post on "Counting" by Kelly Stone? AWESOME!!!


What an effective yet simple way to become accountable. And people who like to take off for the summer for a variety of reasons, tend to want to take off for the holidays (Oh, December is SLOOOOOW in publishing), parts of winter (Oh, I can't get up early, it's soooo dark and coooooold!), of course Easter (I have to hide eggs, I must make a cake shaped like a bunny and then one shaped like a lamb, and you know we can't celebrate Easter/Resurrection Sunday WITHOUT EASTER BREAD, RUTHY!!!)

Oh my stars. And that brings us right back to summer.

If you don't work a plan (especially for us pantsers and plantsers), you're cutting yourself off at the knees.

Wow.

Whoa. Yuck. ;)

Do not tell my young friend Edwin I put this pic up. He'd be chagrined to say the least. Sweet young man. Shame about his legs, though.

Yeah, I'm bossy. I'm short, but I talk big. And I try to emulate the habits of successful people, most of which come down to this:

Work hard. Or as Nora Roberts likes to put it: "Don't give me any drivel about your muse not working, or writer's block. It's your job. Do your job."


She may have added a word or two that I deleted to maintain Seekerville's "G" rating.


I brought finger food today so you can write and eat at the same time. I'm very clever that way. Bagels, straight from New York (no, we didn't buy them two weeks ago. Sheesh. I've got an 'in' with a great bagel shop near Union in Park Slope). Cream cheese. Lox. Fresh, sweet onion, thinly sliced. Apples. Coffee, all kinds. And a chocolate basket to keep you from needing to rummage in cupboards hunting up just one piece.


We've got ya' covered.


And I'm giving away two copies of "Small-Town Hearts" today to two commenters. And your comments don't have to agree with me (although I'm not saying that HURTS, I love it when people agree with me, because I'm bossy and opinionated, quite annoying, actually). But this charming, sweet candy-store book is flirty and fun. And talks a lot about chocolate. So come in, sit down (near your keyboard, of course) and let's strategize work avoidance...


My best advice? Me and Nike concur: Just Do It.