I have a new book contract. I never EVER would have predicted that, a year after the first one, I would get another contract to write another memoir. It’s exciting. Its pressure filled! It’s the start of another interesting year.
So I decided to spend the holidays alone. I needed the time to write -- I’m under contract to produce some chapters after all -- so I decided not to fly to Minnesota to be with family. I put up my tree and have a Jenny-O, turkey breast in the oven, au-gratin potatoes, and will make a nice vegetable stir fry. I’ve been at the keyboard most of the day, and have produced some readable words, but it’s strange. Home alone. Christmas happening in homes all around me. Weird.
Was this the right thing to do? I have so much trouble writing in the evenings. Weekends just don’t seem long enough. I felt like the holidays would be my only opportunity to really get into this story.
Now there is icy rain falling outside and its chilly here. I feel a little lonely but then again, if I had gone home, I’d be worried about getting the work done anyway.
Tomorrow will be a better day. It will be the day AFTER Christmas and I’ll be able to write without feeling strange about it.
Right now, dinner is almost ready, the cat is curled up behind me on the chair, the rain is slapping against the windows and I’m feeling okay. Happy Holidays!
M. L. Doyle has served in the U.S. Army at home and abroad for more than two decades as both a soldier and civilian. Mary is the author of The Desert Goddess series, an urban fantasy romp consisting of The Bonding Spell and The Bonding Blade. She has also penned The Master Sergeant Harper mystery series which has earned numerous awards including an IPPY, a Lyra Award and the Carrie McCray Literary Award. Mary is the co-author of two memoirs; A Promise Fulfilled; the story of a Wife and Mother, Soldier and General Officer (Jan. 201) and the memoir, I’m Still Standing: From Captive U.S. Soldier to Free Citizen—My Journey Home (Touchstone, 2010), which was nominated for an NAACP Image award. Mary's work has been published by The Goodman Project, The War Horse, The WWrite Blog and The Wrath-Bearing Tree, an online magazine for which she serves as a fiction editor. A Minneapolis, Minnesota native, Mary current lives in Baltimore. You can reach her at her website at mldoyleauthor.com.
