Please welcome TY Langston
Finding Balance
Everyone has to juggle something in their lives in some form
or another. Whether its family with work
or a hobby with money, there will be always something that will bubble up and
throw us off our game.
For me, as I come up on my two year anniversary of becoming
an published author, I had up until very recently struggled on achieving
balance between my regular job and my writing persona.
Most people know where I work are aware that I’m a published
author and they’ve been great about it.
They know I don’t like to talk to
about it that much when I’m there, and
when I’m at work, I’m there for my day job, period.
My scheduled usually is as follows:
Work- 8 hrs/ sometimes 9 or 10 hrs, depending on if I have
to work overtime or not, followed by family time, dinner, workout at the gym or
a run, and after that it’s usually into the writing cave until 11 or sometimes
even 12 or 1 am.
Weekends are great because I can usually sleep in, work out
and write for a few hours and spend the rest of the time with friends and
family.
Lately, the schedule has been a bit crazier due to year end
deadlines on the Romantic Tales stories, and other stories that will be
published in the next year that will either be subbed or will need editing.
The question is, is if all the hard work paying off for
someone that barely has a social life for the time being, the answer is yes.
It’s beginning to pay off in good, positive ways.
So, for anyone who wants to be an author my advice is to
write as much as you. Even if it’s 100 words. At least try to write something
daily if possible. The more you write,
the more you improve at your craft. Also, another tip, make a writing schedule
and try stick to it as much as you
possibly can.
Final tip, stay off Social media. If its writing time, turn off Facebook,
twitter, tumblr, You Tube until you accomplish what your goal is for the
evening or the day. (This last one took
a little bit of getting used to due to myself being a recovering twitteraholic,
but I have to say, its worked out for the best with myself not being on as much
as I used to be).
Balance is difficult and always will be a work in progress.
I, like everyone else will struggle with it, but I know in the long run, with
every hurdle there’s a finish line at the end.
In my series CRAVE in Romantic Tales: Bedtime Stories, my
female main character, Harper Erkstine is a reporter for the Wakefield Post.
Due the crazy hours that her beat mandates, she attempts to find balance with she
meets the mysterious lead singer of a rock bank that possibly has ties or a
story she is currently working on.
Here’s an excerpt of CRAVE:
The assistant’s mouth curved
into an impish grin .She loved teasing her good friend when she could;
especially during deadline hour. “I’m sorry, Harp. Didn’t mean to scare you,
but Ross wants to know how the story is going?”
Frazzled, Harper took her light
brown mane and began to pile it tall on top of her head. She surfed through an
endless sea of notes in her notebook. Despite the age where computers laptops
and tablets reigned, there were some things she preferred to do the
old-fashioned way. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at her watch. She dreaded
when her editor did this to her. At her current pace, she could finish, tighten
and send it to him with three hours to spare. He either wanted her off this
story, or he wanted her to do another story on top of this one, which was
already front page news. With a pensive stare, she had inkling she would dread
her answer.
“Nearly done. Tell him he’ll
have it in an hour.” She told Ellen.
Ellen smiled while she wrote it
on her own notebook. “Ok, hon. I will. He would have emailed everyone, but
someone hacked into his email and since he’s at the editor’s and publisher’s
conference he wanted an update... and a favor…”
Anxious, Harper continued to
play with her pen; the gnawing sensation that nagged at the pit of her stomach
only justified her concern. Shit, I just want to get out of here, eat a
decent meal and actually turn in at an hour that didn’t include the wee hours
of the morning.
“A favor? Is he serious?”
Harper asked. Her frustration with her editor, Ross began to increase with each
new story. No one else kept the hours she did or would work the crazy schedule
she had been working these days. Regardless of what the request was, she wished
for once, her boss could ask someone else to do something besides her.
Ellen sat on the corner of her
friend’s desk. Just before she sat, she pulled out a blue folder and placed it
in front of Harper. “He is and this is for me as well. Ever hear of the band
Crave?”
Harper’s brown eyes narrowed.
Her stomach continued to churn which usually meant that all hopes for a
peaceful evening would now be dashed by a friend with whom she could never say
no to; and an editor who aggravated her more than her own parents. “No, I
haven’t.” she answered, “Why?” she continued with some hesitation. Ellen’s eyes
widened with excitement. “Really? You never heard of them? Crave is one of the
rising stars in the music industry. They are a homegrown band in Wakefield that
is on the cusp of national stardom. You seriously have no idea who they are?”
Harper placed her pen down and
opened the navy blue folder Ellen had placed in front of her “I honestly haven’t,
El, and as you know I’m a huge music lover. What kinds of stuff do they play?”
she asked.
Ellen pulled out a CD from her
sweater pocket and placed it carefully on the desk. “There’s a demo in the
folder, but this is their latest EP they’ve been promoting. One of their
singles is now number 10 on Billboard’s new artists’ chart.” Harper’s eyes
glimmered with delight. “They’re from here? That’s fantastic.” Ellen nodded.
“Yes, they are. Well, the guitarist is, Chace Lawson. Apparently, the others
are from all over the country. I’ve never heard or seen women get so worked up
over hot, sweaty men in leather in my life until I went to a Crave show.”
Harper opened the folder and snickered. She could understand why. The five men
were quite easy on the eyes. In particular, the one in the center with the
long-layered brown hair and eyes that appeared to be burning at hole straight
through her.
“I can see why. They’re
gorgeous. Especially the brooding one in the middle.” Harper said as she picked
up the black and white photo of the band. Ellen got up sat back on the desk and
placed herself directly in front of her good friend.
“That
would be Cass St. Marie. Pictures don’t do him justice. He’s just not handsome,
he’s beautiful. He’s also got this southern drawl that’s just so damn
intoxicating that a girl could get drunk just from him saying ‘hello’. And the
way he moves his body, from his arms to those corded thighs, there is something
about him that’s electric.” Ellen said
Buy link for both Episode One is only at amazon.com
But the 2nd book also known as Episode two is available at amazon.com
and on Barnes and Noble.com
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