Keeping Writing Time Sacred with Susan Kaye Quinn

Today is the launch of Susan Kaye Quinn's 

Open Minds 

(book One of the Mindjack Trilogy) 

The book has already garnered fantastic reviews, and Susan is throwing a virtual launch party (#keepingOpenMinds)!  I'm thrilled to be a part of it.  

In her post at my place, Susan lets us in on how exactly she manages to accomplish more than seems humanly possible:

Keeping Writing Time Sacred

by

Susan Kaye Quinn

I’m lucky to live near Nicki Elson in real-life, and as fellow Omnific authors (her Three Daves and my Life, Liberty, and Pursuit), we’ve had a couple of occasions to get together. Most recently, we had tea and a flurry of conversation while ostensibly signing an anthology (Summer Breeze) that we had both penned a short fiction for.

As we were making arrangements, she suggested meeting during a weekday, when my kids were in school. School time is my writing time, something I’ve been trying to hold very sacred, even as I’m getting ready to launch Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy). I very much wanted to sit and have tea and catch up, but I asked if we could move our meet-up to Saturday, taking time out of both our busy weekend schedules instead. She was awesome and understood.

Keeping writing time sacred is tough to do, even more so when the other things competing for your time aren’t laundry or doing the dishes, but meeting with friends or spending time with your kids. Things you want to do, maybe even as much as writing. (Although I’m so seriously addicted to writing, there’s not many things I would rather do.)

For me, keeping writing time sacred means literally holding periods of time clear of any other obligations. I’m a stay-at-home mom, but I cut way back on my volunteer work to concentrate on my writing, including choosing not to run for re-election (for the last four years, I’ve been an elected board member of the third largest K-8 school district in Illinois). When my stay-at-home friends suggest getting together while the kids are in school, I say no. It’s not because I’m a hermit; it’s because I’m working (even though it may not seem so, as I stare out the window in an attempt to dream up a solution to the next plot point).

I’m just sure my real life friends think I’m slightly crazed, as I shuffle to the school drop off with my hair still wet, or dash to pick up the kids after school before they think I’ve abandoned them. I knew that Nicki would understand, because she’s a writer too (and she’s awesome), but I doubt my local friends have any idea of the commitment it takes to be a novelist. (BTW, I really like that word. Novelist. Isn’t it pretty?)

But then I’ll stop in at my kid’s school for some (rare) volunteer work at the Book Fair and see some familiar faces. They’ll ask, “How’s the writing going?” I’ll say, “Great! I have a novel coming out next month.” And they’re amazed. They say, “Wow, you’re so prolific! How do you do so much?”

I don’t remind them that it’s been over a year since my first novel was published. I don’t talk about how I’ve been working on this novel for two years and it seems like an eternity to me. I just smile and nod and say, “I’m a writer. It’s what I do.” Then I go back to my cave and do it some more.

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See more guest posts about Open Minds at the Virtual Launch Party!

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy) by Susan Kaye Quinn is available for $2.99 in e-book (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords) and $9.99 in print (Amazon, Createspace).

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PRIZES!

Susan Kaye Quinn is giving away an Open Books/Open Minds t-shirt, mug, and some fun wristbands to celebrate the Virtual Launch Party of Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy)! (Check out the prizes here.)

Three ways to enter (you can have multiple entries):

1)      Leave a comment here or at the Virtual Launch Party post

2)      Tweet (with tag #keepingOPENMINDS)

Example: When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep. #keepingOPENMINDS @susankayequinn #SF #YA avail NOW http://bit.ly/psX1Hh

Example: Celebrate the launch of OPEN MINDS by @susankayequinn #keepingOPENMINDS #SciFi #paranormal #YA avail NOW http://bit.ly/SKQOpenMinds

3)       Facebook (tag @AuthorSusanKayeQuinn)

Example: Celebrate the launch of paranormal/SF novel OPEN MINDS by @AuthorSusanKayeQuinn for a chance to win Open Books/Open Minds prizes!