work – Katie L. Carroll

Last year, after I got my YA fantasy ELIXIR SAVED finalized and up for preorder, the goal was to take a break. Not that I wasn’t going to write, more that anything I wrote would be without a plan.

I had started my witchy middle grade back in October 2019 when I did an Unworkshop at the Highlights Foundation, but I didn’t want to dive back into that one yet. I wanted to play around and not focus on a big project like a novel, and I wanted time to refill my creative well with reading, watching, and listening to music.

That was the plan at the beginning of the year, and I got ELIXIR SAVED ready in early March just before schools shut down. And, well, you all know what we’ve all been dealing with ever since. By the time I figured out how to fit in writing time again with early morning sessions (which didn’t happen until June!), I needed to have a plan instead of play, so I opted to work on the witchy middle grade.

Then I also got the rights to the illustrations for my picture book THE BEDTIME KNIGHT, so that became my play project as I taught myself to design a picture book. And now THE BEDTIME KINGHT is a real book out in the world and my middle grade is off to critique partners!

So I am truly ready for that writing “break” I meant to take (*checks notes*) almost a year ago. I have some STEM topics I’ll be exploring and I’ll be playing around with book formats I haven’t written before. Eventually I’ll be getting back to my witchy middle grade, and then I’ll have to decide what novel I’m writing next, but it’s all play for now for me. I’m really looking forward to it.

What kind of play or work (writing or non-writing related) have you all been up to?

Complaining is self-indulgent. It’s annoying. And worst of all, it’s boring. But, I’m writing this blog post on a Sunday while The Boy naps. I’ll probably be working tonight editing a manuscript that isn’t mine. When all I really want to be doing right now is snuggling up under a blanket with the book sitting on my coffee table, neglected.

There’s so many reasons why I have no business complaining. Last September I was lucky enough to be able to leave my office job to focus more on taking care of The Boy. Now my job is reading and editing other people’s stories. My schedule and my workload are determined by me. I don’t make as much money as I did in my office job, but money isn’t everything, right?

I have a solid roof over my head. A pretty nice car. A wonderful husband who works full-time, vacuums, does the dishes and laundry, and is a fun and loving father. Last year I had two books published.

Who am I to even utter a single word of complaint? I’m human, that’s who I am. I have bad days. I get tired and whiny. Some days the to-do list exceeds the number of hours in the day and my energy level to get those things done.

So official complaint lodged…I’m moving on. Focusing on the great stuff instead of the stuff that sucks the life out of me. A new year meets a new perspective. That is, until I feel like getting whiny again!