My Recent Comments

Thanks Ami and Christyne, for your kind words about Brambleberry House. I was so sad to say good-bye to both Abigail and Conan! I wish I could figure out how to put them in every book. LOL! I find it funny that two of my favorite characters ever in thirty books are a dog and a dead octogenerian

I cried like a baby writing the last scene in A SOLDIER'S SECRET!

I guess that's *my* secret <g>

 RaeAnne

Yay Christyne!!! I'm so thrilled for you :)

 RaeAnne

A SOLDIER'S SECRET -- Book 3, The Women of Brambleberry House, SSE August 2008

Great topic! I have absolutely no time in my life. I told my dh last week, I would pay serious money if I someone could figure out how to give me a 30-hour day. But even then, I probably wouldn't have time to get everything done. I have three kids, one who is a very busy 5, one who is 10 with special needs and a teenager with an insane extracurricular schedule and I feel like my time for myself is measured in nanoseconds. Here are a few things I do to find time to write ...

1) Get away from the house!!! My 5 year old goes to preschool two mornings a week and I find I have to leave if I want to get anything productive accomplished. Otherwise, I get too busy checking email, answering 45-minute phone calls from my Mom, doing laundry, etc. My best solution is to take my Alphasmart and iPod with a great writing playlist and drive somewhere, anyway. Even the Wal-Mart parking lot will do in a pinch <g>.

 2) Organize the rest of your life as much as you can so you can squeeze out more time for writing. Freezer cooking is my best friend. I cook many meals at a time so there's always something good for dinner in the freezer when I'm on deadline and just don't have time to think about it.

3) Set a timer. This works wonders.  I mostly work when my kids are in bed and sometimes I'm so exhausted I just can't bear the idea of sitting down. So I tell myself I'll work for only 30 minutes and then I can sleep. But usually when that 30 minutes are up, I'm so into the story that I have to keep going. I also use that trick for surfing or checking email (only I set it for 10 minutes and have to stop when the timer goes off).

 4) Along with #3, learn to write in spurts. Yes, I would love three or four hours of uninterrupted writing time. Unfortunately, I never, ever get that. But I might be able to squeak out thirty minutes at the kitchen table while my 5 year old watches Yo Gabba Gabba. In thirty minutes, I can write two or three pages or do a character interview or figure out a sticky plot situation. Do that a couple times a day and then throw in a couple more hours at night and you can make serious headway on a book.

5) Remember what comes first. In my case, that's my family. That's just the reality of it. I have a painted sign in my office that says "Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life." It helps keep things in perspective for me.

 Hope that helps :)

RaeAnne

A Mother's Love -- HQ Mother's Day anthology, in stores now

A MERGER .. OR MARRIAGE --- SSE 6-08

A SOLDIER'S SECRET -- SSE 8-08

THE COWBOY'S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE -- SSE 11-08 

Hi all

 I'm a finalist as well for my SRS High-Risk Affair. I'm thrilled!

 RaeAnne 

Sorry about the rejection. But it's always a great sign when an editor says he/she will look at other manuscripts from you!

Now just send other stuff out there!

 RaeAnne

A MOTHER'S LOVE -- Harlequin Mother's Day anthology -- on sale in April 

Hi everyone

 I'm delurking for a minute to comment on synopses. I don't mind them (I know, you can throw stuff at me anytime now. LOL!). I think it's the newspaper reporter in me but tI usually enjoy the chance to tell the story quickly and concisely. 

 And let me put in a plug for my friend Kathy Carmichael's fabulous synopsis workshop -- this is absolutely the best plotting and synopsis tool I've found. Whenever I'm stuck in a book, I go back to her workshop and her cheat sheet. Fabulous stuff.

Here's the URL for one version of her workshop. On her website, you can also find the workshops she's given twice at National as well as handouts.

 http://www.kathycarmichael.com/synopsis.clearwater.fiction.html 

 RaeAnne

A MOTHER'S LOVE -- Harlequin Mother's Day anthology -- on sale in April!