Blog Tour & Giveaway: Dreaming Dangerously by Kathleen Harsch

Title: Dreaming Dangerously
Author: Kathleen Harsch
Publisher: Createspace
Pub. Date: Sept. 5, 2011
“Dreaming Dangerously” Links:
Amazon / B&N / Goodreads

What if you could HEAR thoughts?

Thanks to her ability to mind-drop, Cassie can hear the thoughts of everyone around her. But sometimes her telepathy is more of a curse than a psychic gift, especially when it comes to Will Rossi.

Reason #1: He pushes his thoughts at her, whether she wants to hear them or not.

Reason #2: His sexy, vindictive ex-girlfriend.

Reason #3: His dimples are absolutely, 100% distracting.

To her surprise, Cassie feels drawn to Will’s electromagnetic vibes. Yet, as she falls for him, she discovers their relationship has some serious side effects. She begins to have dreams about the future – dreams that come true in horrifying ways.

Cassie needs to learn to trust Will, or she won’t be able to prevent the tragedy she sees coming.

And now, here’s a special guest post from Kathleen Harsch on what it’s like balancing her time between ALL of her very important jobs. (This lady does it ALL between being a wife, mother, teacher, writer, etc… She’s awesome, right?!)

As a wife, mother of two children and a very large dog, and a middle school language arts teacher, it’s difficult for me to find time for myself to do anything. Especially to write two novels.
I wish I had either a magic wand like Mrs. Weasley, or I could wrinkle my nose like Samantha in Bewitched and my house would be clean, dinner would be on the table and my children taken care of, but I don’t. So, how do I find the time to write?

Good question.

I don’t find time. I make time.

No, I can’t stretch my 24 hour day. I either go without sleep, which I have done many nights, or I choose what’s most important to do at the moment, and let the rest go. I delegate chores to various family members because I shouldn’t have to do all of the housework. I do all of my grading and lesson planning at school. I don’t read as much as I normally do, and I watch a lot less TV. Although my house will not be in Good Housekeeping any time soon, and I may have dust bunnies the size of Great Danes lurking in the corners, I do have two novels and twenty thousand words of another novel written in the period of three years.

I’ve wanted to write novels for a long time. For years, I didn’t write anything substantial because I felt I didn’t have the time. However, after reading Twilight, I became intrigued with the author, so I read the bio on her website. At times, she wrote, one-handed, with her children sitting on her lap! That’s when I realized I had no more excuses. From her I learned this: Small chunks of writing time are better than no time at all.

If you write every day, no matter how long it is, five minutes or three hours, you can maintain the momentum it takes to write a novel.

Of course, you have to really love the concept of your book. It has to excite you enough to deal with all the distractions and interruptions and the time it takes to write seventy thousand words. It also helps if you have a plan.
I always have a general plan for the direction I want my novels to go in. I map out the plot and the character’s motivations before I start writing a novel. Then, I write one scene at a time. Sometimes my characters decide to change things, and that’s okay. However, when you’re working with small chunks of time, it helps to have some sort of plan for each scene. That way if you’re interrupted, it’s easier for you to get back to writing.
Since I write one scene at a time, it’s easier for me to return to my family.

Still, there are going to be interruptions. Dinner. Baseball practice. A phone call. Emails. Questions about bills and the location of someone’s socks. There are times when I have to get out of the house. So, I go to a coffee shop or a library and work for an hour or so.

Other times, I just get distracted. If the television is on because my children are watching, I might get sucked into an episode of Good Luck, Charley. My Mastiff might need to go outside, and I realize I haven’t petted him all day or fed him dinner. To make it up to him, sometimes, I’ll just pet him for a half hour. I just can’t resist. My daughter might be stressing over her latest crush or her latest test. So, I need to take some time listen to her and maybe review some questions with her. Or my son just wants to give me a kiss goodnight or one of his random drive-by hugs. I just want to hug him forever. Of course, my husband distracts me, too.

Yet, I need these distractions to stay connected to my family, to remember to cherish this time that my children are growing up, no matter how busy I am, or that I’ve left my character dangling from a cliff.

While I’m cleaning my house, raking my yard or shopping at a grocery store, my characters and books are always bouncing around in my brain. It’s at these times that I come up with some of my best ideas. For some reason, a simple chore makes the neurons of my brain connect in fantastical ways, and suddenly, I’m full of ideas for my stories.

Basically, my advice is to keep writing every day, no matter how much time you have. Remind your family that you need time for yourself once in a while and you need their cooperation. Finally, relax and let life happen because life can be a huge inspiration, especially if you suffer from writer’s block.

Of course, investing in a really good pair of headphones and cranking up the music helps, too.

Linkin Park works for me every time!

Wow!!! Just reading about her day makes me tired! Seriously, I’m inspired.
Thank you SOOO much, Kathleen, for stopping by my blog today! You gave me something to aspire to. (And I can relate to the whole, my house “not being in Good Housekeeping”, thing. 🙂

And here’s the giveaway:
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