I am a deadline sort of person. Give me a deadline and I will reach it 99.9% of the time. On the other hand, give me a vague when you have time or let me know when you think you can do this and it will take me three times longer to complete the task. I’ve always known this about myself, but I finally had to admit it to my husband. He asked me when I thought I’d complete my current work in progress a.k.a. A Family Affair: The List because the release date I gave myself was really long. This is the first book I’ve written since losing Mom and I didn’t know how long it would take to get the words to flow… We’ve had to postpone Mom’s memorial service and I still haven’t seen my siblings…and then there was the sale of the house and the rest of the estate. Trying to do this from four hours away is difficult, but thankfully, my husband and true partner, stepped in to help.
So, all of those things and the grieving that goes with it slowed me down. I needed the time, but eventually I had to recognize that it was important to find some sense of normalcy and that meant completing the work…no matter if I was sad, anxious, grieving, or bewildered. The only way to do that was to set a deadline. A real deadline, not the extraordinarily long one that even my rescue dog Henry could have met…and when I did that, the pages started flowing. That’s why A Family Affair: The List released several weeks ahead of its scheduled date. I think Mom would be proud of my perseverance during difficult times…She would call it a sign of strong character and Mom would know.
