Distractions of Writer's Life

Whose days always go according to plan? Nope, not mine either. Once upon a time ago, though, I used to be able to from time to time. But that was before I fell into the role of a caregiver for my husband. Each day carries its own little adventure like a walk through the woods.  Even more so the case since my husband has become ill and needs more of my attention when I get home from work.

I'm blessed that a great part of what I have to do, as far as my writing is concerned, is on the computer and I sit in front of one of those eight hours a day. Only problem is that I'm ethically bound by my conscience and a document only an inch thick but as heavy as box of bricks--business code of conduct--to use that computer for the purposes for which I'm paid.

Luckily that same document does allow some wiggle room for personal use of the computer so I do what I can. On those days when I'm motivated to do more--post a blog, improve the design of my blog, schedule some publicity via Hootsuite, or visit some of the blogs I follow--you know, some of the more consuming activities of this writer's life, I create a mental list of a few things I want to do when I get home.

While I'm making my plans, though, approximately ten  miles away  somebody else is making plans for me too. My husband, bless his heart. Whether it's cooking something in particular for dinner (one day it was fried chicken in addition to the spaghetti that I was in the process of making), picking up something in particular that he may have a taste for (another day it was fixings for a hot fudge sundae), or any given day it could be as simple as watching a few episodes of television shows that he's recorded for my (mainly his) viewing pleasures. The Maury Show is at the top of that list. "You are NOT the father!" LOL! It's not preferred television entertainment but I enjoy watching my husband laugh. Dealing with a chronic illness as he is, moments of sincere laughter are few and far in between.

These detours to what I may have planned for my evening are nothing to get my undies in a bunch about. It happens to the best of us. That's what moments like these--waking up at 5 am on a Saturday morning and catching up on some things all the more appreciated..

Til next time y'all,

Author L.A.

L.A. Jeff & Scribes for Christ

Finally the weekend had arrived. And this was a rare Saturday that I didn't have anything that I had to do thanks to my son surprising loss of interest in bowling. Well, to be fair to him, his loss isn't really in the actual game of bowling but the having to wake up at 8 am on Saturday to bowl at 8:45. After two weeks of dragging him out of bed and out of the door I decided to stop forcing the matter. Heck, I'd be saving approximately $15 a week ($10 for bowling, $5 my coffee and my son's snack).

Anyway, my calendar was clear and lucky for me just the day before a message had come through my email notifying me of a writer's group meeting not too far from my home. I was totally excited! First you have to understand that every other writer's group that I know of meets on the 2nd Saturday of the month. One of the first that joined, Motown Writer's Network, meets at 10am and the other, The Called and Ready Writers meets 1pm and the last one, The Detroit Writer's Guild meets at noon. Seriously???  A writer shouldn't have to choose. I'd love to attend all of these meetings but that just wasn't possible. Second Saturday is also the day off my sorority meeting. I don't always make it to that either, but you can understand how overwhelming it could be knowing all of that is happening on the same day.

So, yes, I was excited that the Lord orchestrated a way for me to network with a group of writers. It may not be on my vision board for 2016 but the desire to meet with other writers on a regular basis has been in my heart. Networking and getting and giving support to and from other writers is a piece of the puzzle to a writer's success. Writing may be a solitary activity but the support and encouragement of other writers is a key component in most writers' success. And I want mine!

Scribes for Christ is a group of writers who right for the lifting up and glorifying of God. The group meets at Greater Grace Temple, a humongous house of God, which boasts a membership in the thousands! I'm just glad that it was on my side of town and didn't require me to drive to downtown Detroit where I have to drive everyday for work--a hindrance to me attending the Motown Writers Network meetings.

My current book projects are not Christian in nature, but with the start of my very first book, over 10 years ago, God was whispering in my ear about my responsibility to write for Him. I'm ready to be obedient to that call.

I arrived at the meeting about 10 mins late--I recently added a clock to my vision board to represent timeliness in all things. A powerful prayer was being led by an apparent prayer warrior. God's annointing was called into the place. and then the meeting was called to order. I'm glad that I've been involved in enough writers' functions that I wasn't a total stranger to the proceedings of the meeting. Nevertheless, as I was driving to the meeting I experienced a similar nervousness that was present when I attended my very first writers' meeting back in 2004 or 2005. Plus, there were a couple of familiar faces. One, in fact, a writer/professional editor that I'd been intending to reconnect with for a mentor/mentee, friendship relationship. God was aware of this desire too!

Prayer was the first distinction that I'd noticed with this group but that was expected--Scribes for Christ. However,  the next distinction was not.

Writing exercises. Group Exercises.

    Writing Exercise Time

"You mean we're not just going to listen to a speaker talk about a certain topic with the opportunity to ask questions?" I thought to myself.

"Uh-oh. This meeting was going to pull me out of my comfort zone in more than one way." But I was excited!

By the time I left that meeting, I'd written a vision of who L.A. Jefferson was 5 yrs from now, which included millions of books sold across the country and beyond, books translated into multiple languages, movie options, Oprah book club selection, and a nationally syndicated column.



Oh yes! I was blessed during that meeting and left it knowing that I would be back!

Of course I went home fired up to write. It may have taken me all day to do it in between housecleaning, preparing dinner, and entertaining my 5 yr old niece who insisted on wrapping me up like a present and painting each other's nails, but I composed  one blog posts for the upcoming week and started on a few more in my head.

Til next time...

Author L.A.

New Year, New L.A.

 

Ooohhh baby! It's cold in the D! So much so that I had to cover up my entire yet!

I can't tell you how good and strange this new year feels to me.  For the first time since I started this blog waaaayyyyy back in 2009 (possibly 2008) I don't have a book project looming over my head. I didn't come into the new year with an unfinished project for which I've had to extend the deadline. Nope! Not this year!

For the first since I published my first book I get to focus on building my online platform, promoting my upcoming book, Reconciliation to Hell, and working on some shorter writing pieces--essays and memoirs, specifically.  I actually started that process in the latter part of 2015 having submitted two stories to Chicken Soup for the Soul and one to Readers Digest.

It's been far too long since I've posted here so I can't possibly fill you in on everything that's been going on. So please come back and follow me on my writing journey. I'm looking forward to sharing with you.