Hiatus during the holidays? I think not!

Leave it to me to take a hiatus from my writing world during the holiday season!

After writing 151,000 words during NaNoWriMo, I made what I thought was a good decision and declared that I'd not write a word during December. Brilliant, right?

Well, considering that I'm writing this blog post right now and I send out daily tweets, Facebook posts, emails, a bi-weekly newsletter and write countless notes to myself and my children, I do believe I've failed. That's not to mention the book descriptions I'm constantly tweaking or writing for others or the notebooks full of outlines I've written this month.

You see, I simply cannot stop writing, regardless of what I've promised myself. A writer writes. All. The. Time. We can't help ourselves. Even if I'm not physically writing -- either on paper or on my Alphasmart or my laptop -- I am writing in my head or in my dreams.

Admitting I have a problem (sort of) is the first step to...

I think it's time to rethink what my goal is for this month. Here's what I've come up with:

Write for pleasure, not to meet a deadline.

Read because reading makes me happy.

Finish buying Christmas gifts because, whether I like it or not, Christmas will come.

Stop eating holiday goodies because adding an extra 30 minutes a day to my daily run may kill me.

Share some fun holiday surprises from my writer friends. Wait till you see what we have planned for you for the 12 days before Christmas.

Finally, remember to live in the moment and breathe.

For the love of books & chocolate,

Ava Mallory

Comments

12 Days of Christmas Book Giveaways

It's giveaway time! It's day three of the 12 Days of Christmas Book Giveaways and that means it's my day to host a giveaway. Two winners will win an e-copy of my new release 'Tis the Sneezin' ! (Winners will be chosen on Christmas Day 12/25/15.) Here's the book: http://amzn.to/1TK0V1v Tis the Sneezin' Description: Traveling nurse Mercy Mares is up to her eyeballs in donations for the town's annual holiday celebration. Every nook and cranny of her house and all of her friend's and neighbor's houses are overflowing with gifts for ill children in her local hospital. It's all she can do to keep track of what is what and who is who. On the night that she and her merry band of helpers are to deliver these gifts, everything, including gifts she bought for her loved ones, simply disappear without a trace. Now, Mercy has to find the thief before those who appointed her this year's Mrs. Claus find out that they're missing an...

What to Read Next

What kind of books do you like to read? Do you only read one genre or are you like me? I'm an eclectic reader. If it sounds good, will teach me something, make me feel something, will make me cry, laugh, sing, or all the above, I'm all over it. Don't tell anyone I told you this. I'll deny it in court. (Kidding!) But I have two Kindles that have over 3000 books each on them. That's just the beginning. I also have what I estimate to be a few thousand books I've read, started to read, haven't read yet, or forgot I owned all over my house. I kid you not. Our house has more books than our local library. My book obsession is real. With all these books, you'd think finding my next read would be easy, but you think wrong. I can make anything complicated. True story. I don't know about you, but my eclectic reading taste stems from needing to be "in the mood" for a specific genre or writing style. Like many people, at the beginning of the year, I a...

The Holly Jolly Blog Hop 2016 - The Wrong Gift

The holidays are quickly approaching and we're all feeling harried. Take some time to relax and enjoy some fun short stories. The Holly Jolly Blog Hop 2016 is LIVE! Immerse yourself in these fun, fabulous fictional worlds and discover new-to-you authors and their best-loved characters! Join the blog hop here: Holly Jolly Blog Hop 2016 Here's my contribution - The Wrong Gift – A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery Short By Ava Mallory The jarring noise at 3 A.M. should have been my first clue that the holiday would not go as planned. I could have ignored it. I would have. But Barney, my part-time guard dog, full-time housemate, wouldn’t hear of it. “What is that noise?” I tried to sit up but the new mermaid blanket my daughter had given me as an early Christmas gift barred me from moving anything other than my toes if I angled them just so. Barney’s loud barking wasn’t helping. I flailed my lower half to loosen the death grip the blanket had on my legs, but between th...

Ava Mallory

Search This Blog