Thursday, January 20, 2011

Just part of the job . . .

When I was a little kid, I watched Captain Kangaroo.  So sue me!  It seemed like they had a lot of features that played over and over again.  They did things live (or almost) in those B&W days of television, so who knows.  It got really boring, even if you're only four or five.

One of the regular features I always found tedious was some guy spinning plates on a stick.

I mean REALLY, spinning plates on sticks!  This guy got a regular paycheck from the Captain for this boring, boring act.  I watched because in those days there was nothing else on for a kid to watch until late afternoon when reruns of the Mickey Mouse club came on.  That was boring, too, but it was better than soap operas.  (At least if you're five.)

These days my life feels like I'm spinning plates (or as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, running in on a hamster wheel).  I've come to the conclusion that I'm never going to catch up.  I'll always be a day late and a dollar short.  I won't be able to keep the plates spinning and they'll all crash and break and there'll be a big mess to clean up. 

The book has been going well, but slow, and suddenly I'm running out of days to finish it, and then must immediately jump into the next book.  Except that I'm deep into promoting A Crafty Killing, too.  (Thousands of postcards are about to arrive.  I've got address labels and stamps to put on them.  Oy!  Where is the time going to come from to do it and have it done by next week when they MUST go out??)

I have come to the conclusion that I must step up production on the book.  That's okay today, because I mapped out about six more scenes before I got up this morning.  (Yeah, at 4 a.m.)  But what happens when I finish writing those scenes?


Okay, I'm complaining and I'm not complaining.  I love this job.  I love just about every aspect of it. I just wish I had time to enjoy some of it.

End of venting.

How about you.  What is it about your job that you love and hate at the same time?