Confession: I’ve been pedaling as fast as I can on a stationary bike for a long time now. Barely keeping my head above water with a multitude of life tasks, a family health scare, and raising a teenage boy. Last spring, our son went to Junior prom with his lovely girlfriend, which means this year, he’s a Senior. On top of everything–I have book deadlines.
Deadlines are a blessing and a curse. As writers, if we don’t have deadlines, we’re not working. Or getting paid. I remember before I was published, hearing an author speak at a conference and complaining about deadlines. At the time, I thought–I’d kill to have a deadline. Now I understand.
I was all excited when I signed the contract, couldn’t wait to start the first book. And then life hit and hit and hit. Before I knew it, I only had two months to get the book written while existing on an emotional roller coaster. I didn’t care about my book or the characters. All I cared about was the curve ball life had thrown me and treading through it. But I still had to write the book. I thought about asking for more time. And I could have. I didn’t for several reasons. I have a new editor and I didn’t want to start things off by asking to extend my deadline and mess up her editorial schedule. And the curve ball hit our finances too. I’ve never written for income, but this time, I needed to.
My husband encouraged me, literally took me by the shoulders and gave me a gentle shove toward my office several times. I wrote. Even though the story didn’t flow. Even though every word was forced. Day after day, word after word, I wrote the book. I revised it and met my deadline. Turning the book in did little to relieve my stress. I was certain it was the worst book I’d ever written. I’ve written books that didn’t flow before. Usually, when I go back for the final read after revisions, I fall in love with the book again. Not this time. I kicked myself for refusing to ask for more time instead of turning in a bad book. I talked to my husband about how the entire book–every scene–was forced. He said he’d had sermons like that and they were often the ones he got the most compliments on.
With another deadline five months away, I took a much needed month off. I spent time with my family, went on outings with friends and cousins. During this time, more tests were done and we learned the health scare wasn’t as bad as we initially thought. The illness is treatable with a great prognosis. I’m sorry I’m being so vague, but somehow I’m just not ready to get into detail yet–even though we have good news now. Maybe in my next newsletter, which I badly need to do soon. But just know that my family is fine and this health scare won’t cut our happily ever after short.
Once our crisis was over, I dove into the next book, which thankfully is flowing better. Last week, I heard from my new editor. She loves the book I turned in and mentioned how I kept the tension ramped up until the end, how the child in the story is adorable and the thing keeping my hero and heroine apart was believable, not easily overcome, and held her interest. I was amazed. I told my husband I thought the whole book consisted of my characters standing at the fence watching horses. Our conclusion, God knew I was mentally incapable of writing a book, so he wrote it for me.
I’m tackling the revisions from my editor now and realizing I no longer hate this book. I’m falling in love with the characters and their story. God had my back. And He did a much better job than I could have.
Has there been a time in your life when you had a deadline or a time crunch and life hit, but God got you through it? One commenter will win a copy of Sweetheart Reunion. Deadline for the giveaway is August 22nd. And don’t forget our back to school bash. If you missed the giveaway lineup, check it out: https://www.inspyromance.com/are-you-ready-for-the-back-2-school-bash/
Award winning author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter writes contemporary Christian cowboy romance and has over a dozen published titles. A romance reader since her teens, she hopes to entertain Christian women and plant seeds in the non-believer’s heart as she demonstrates that love doesn’t conquer all—Jesus does. She gleans fodder for her fiction in rural Arkansas where she spent her teenage summers working the concession stand with her rodeo announcing dad and married a Texan who morphed into a pastor. In her spare time, she loves hanging out with her husband and son, flea marketing, and doing craft projects.
Hi Shannon! I can’t say I’ve had a deadline per-say, but as a book reviewer, I have found myself swamped with books. Hoping to catch up in 2020.
Thank you for sharing such an emotional time with us, Shannon! Keeping you in my prayers ?
Hi Shannon! Thanks for sharing! As a high school teacher, every quarter had a deadline with assessment tests and getting student grades done. With the computer age, where parents can check their students grades on line – every day I had 100 parents breathing down my back. Some parents did not understand that I prepared lesson, interacted with students and staff, and the essay their child wrote did not get graded on the spot. So I understand LIFE happens – especially difficult during the sandwich years when I taught full time, was a pastor’s wife, a mom to kids at home, while caring for my aging parents. Best wishes and may God grant you wisdom, strength, and endurance. He is faithful!
Hi Shannon, thanks for sharing, it is a testimony to God and His grace. I’m totally with Renate on this one- as a teacher and mum with 2 boys (11 and 9) deadlines are frequent and life is busy. I have students messaging me constantly, parents who email, curriculum and lessons to prepare…but through it all, God gives the strength needed to face each day with cheer.
Blessings:)
Totally get this Renate- and then you get a new subject to teach and prepare resources for!!:) However, I truthfully cannot think of another job I would enjoy doing as much as I like teaching:)
I book I’m looking forward to reading.
I have not experienced that. I can’t wait to read your book!
I tend to procrastinate so deadlines and time crunches come upon me all the time, but God somehow gets me through. I’m trying to teach my children not to procrastinate….
oh, also, no need to enter me in the Sweetheart Reunion giveaway – I have it! Thank you!
Hi Michelle. I have two books I’m planning to reward myself with once I get some breathing room. I can’t imagine being swamped with books to read and review. It sounds fun and daunting.
Thanks for the prayers, Paula Marie. I hope you enjoy both stories in the book and thanks for reading.
Wow Renate, you had your hands full. My hat is off to teachers. Our school has new grades up every Tuesday. I never thought of what a crunch that puts the teachers in, but I’ve always figured it was a juggling act. Thanks for the prayers.
Hey Wemble, and then they change math or something else weird to add to the stress.
Hey Wemble, back when I first was wading through my initial book deadlines, my pastor husband would want me to type his sermon for him since we don’t have a church secretary. I’d say, I can’t–I have a deadline. Finally, he said, I have deadlines every Sunday. I’d never thought of it that way. But I still don’t have time to type his sermons. He muddles through with his hand-written notes.
Thanks Kim. It releases in April and I’m looking forward to it to.
You are blessed, Lori. But I bet you have stress anyway. I hope you enjoy the book come April.
I’m a procrastinater too, MJSH. Usually just on things I don’t want to do like make phone calls or clean house.
That happened to me with Entangled, my second book. I never imagined I would write past Entrusted, so God took me by surprise. I could not relate to the heroine. I had a lot of health issues crop up. That book was a beast. But, the funny thing is to this day I receive feedback on how helpful it was. They related to Carla and were challenged to go to God with their regrets because of Entangled. To God be the glory!
That’s an awesome story. I struggled with my 2nd book, the 1st deadline I ever had. Not due to life, just because I was a newby. But God got me through it. I guess I tried to keep control because my editor earned her keep on that one. But it turned out to be a book that touched readers and the 3rd one wrote itself.
Great blog! Health scares are the worst! I had one of my own at 34. I was (and still am!) a proponent for getting mammograms. I had my first right before my 35th Birthday (35 was protocol then; I had mine a week before my 35th). They found something. Turned out I spent the 4th of July waiting for my biopsy results. They came back fine, but that was a horrid weekend!! I have “deadlines” I have to meet with my insurance business, but there’s enough time that even if life throws a curve, I can meet the deadline. At least, so far there’s been nothing to keep me from meeting them! I admit, though, that I do some of my best work under pressure!!
I’ve been trying to finish a book for two years now. My dad’s cancer got worse, I had the blessing to be his caregiver in Hospice, he passed away, and I’ve had the worst time being able to get the writing mojo going again. I sort of finished it now, but it’s 20K short, so trying to add. But it’s still challenging to sit and write. Hard to understand what happened to me in writing.
I used to work in educational publishing so I can relate to deadlines. In my current life, my deadlines are more related to our family of 5 and all our overlapping schedules. During busy seasons I can see how God has my back and takes such good care of our family. Choosing joy and trusting Him instead of worrying is often easier said than done, though! Thanks for sharing your heart with us today.
Welcome Shannon. Nice looking young man. Have fun this year as a senior. I remember when our son was a senior and realized that next year he would be away from home at college. Wow, talk about feelings. LOL I am so proud of what he has accomplished so far in life. The year before he and his wife got married, I was working as a server at a retirement home. (that was really fun, hard, but fun) Anyway they were having a civil war themed wedding (they are both reenactors and they both sewed and soled clothes to reenactors) Anyway I figured they had enough sewing to do, and since I can sew, I said that I would sew my own dress. Help them out. Well life happened, my mom got sick and I would spend half the day as care giver and then head to work. And this left weekends to sew, which were already taken up. Sigh. Would I ever get to sew this beautiful dress? My husband was able to help with some of the sewing and pinning. He is a sewer also. Thank you Lord. Well God did get me through it and we all looked lovely on that special day. The wedding was going to be outside, and while we were dressing it started to rain. Lots of prayers went up. And by the time it was time for the service to start the grass was dry and the sun was out. It was just beautiful knowing that Gods miracles were coming to fruition for this day. It is now four years later and we can see God working in their marriage.
Oh, yes. So much yes. At this point, I am trusting God to have His book written by the end of September so that an agent will have enough to read and decide to take a chance on me. Together, we have gotten it past the 50K mark.
I love how your editor mentioned the tension in your book. No kidding, right?
Praying for all of you!
Thank you for sharing your heart. Cannot wait to read your book.
I don’t have deadlines per se but I feel like I do when I have to finish writing book chapters (academic ones) and journal articles… I’m currently swamped with stuff (close to 10) that I have to return to my coauthors before my baby is born (which is any day now).
I haven’t had anything where a deadline was looming but there are days when I need God’s help just to keep breathing and moving forward.
A series of unexpected deaths and a cancer diagnosis in the family put things on hold for a while
I’ve gotten thru rough times I never thought I would be able to. I lost my first husband of 21 years to Type 1 Diabetes Complications at the age of 46, a few years after that I got married a second time and was married 20 years and I lost him to Stage 4 Kidney Cancer at the age of 64. In my life time I never even imagined I would go thru all this but I have and came out the other end. After losing my second husband, I sold our house we had in Indiana and moved back to my hometown of Chicago and I’ve been here about two years and my Son is only a mile and a half from me now. This book looks amazing, Thanks for your great generosity.
When I’m overwhelmed with just too much to do and not enough time I always turn to the rock of Christ.
Thank you for sharing. I think at times all of us have been up against some kind of challenge and writing must be hard, just remember the people who read your books may seem like they want you to write fast, but we want a writer to not suffer burnout.
I guess the time that sticks out is when I was evicted from my old house after mum had been put into a nursing home and through no fault of my own. (he really wanted to sell but wasn’t up front about it). I had to find someone where to live knowing It would be really hard to find someone through agencies. But God had an answer. Where I am belongs to friends and they needed to keep some of there items here. It had been their fathers place and he was a collector and hoarder. I came with one bedroom (in a 3 bedroom home) After a year got the second bedroom which is more a dining come craft room and the other is still a store room. I also have items of furniture in several of my rooms. It was also after a Year I got access to the garage. This was a God send for me and also for the owners. 10 years on there is still the storeroom and furniture in most rooms.
Shannon, I’ve read Sweetheart Reunion and it’s a wonderful story – love it :)
I’m praying God blesses your family and be close to you! Whenever I’ve been going through tough times, HE is the One who carried me and gave me peace <3
Hey Trudy, I’m so sorry I’m just now getting back to answer comments. I should have told everyone, I have company staying at my house, so I was busy preparing most of the day. It seems like the medical community could do something to stop the roller coaster. Getting results quicker. Something. It’s terrible to be left hanging and worrying. I’m glad you found your groove under pressure. I stress too much and try to give my worries to God daily. But I always end up taking them back.
Hey Sandy, I ended up having a year off from writing. I have a book I’ve wanted to write for years and never had time. I could have written it in that year, but I just couldn’t seem to get in the groove with it. Maybe deadlines are our friend, they force us to write. I’m sorry about your dad, but I’m glad you were able to take care of him.
Hi Stacey, we jumped through hoops over the years keeping up with our son’s schedule. I can’t imagine having more than one child with multiple activities going on. Plus work deadlines? My hats off to you. So true about not worrying easier said than done. And once the worry is over and things turn out way better than I expected, I kick myself and wonder why I spent all that time worrying.
Hi Lori, at least our son isn’t going off to college. He’s never wanted to and never really liked school though he has good grades. He worked for a construction company this summer as in intern and really liked it. Once the internship was over, he told the boss he wanted to work there after school and go into construction once he graduates. So that’s the path he’s on. Thanks for sharing your story. The wedding sounds wonderful and it’s so cool that you and your husband both sew. I sew curtain toppers, comforters, and bed ruffles. I never had the patience to sew clothes – they’re so exact. If I make a pucker in curtain toppers or bedskirts, you can’t tell.
Hey Jenny, yay on the book. I can’t wait to read it. I never made that connection, maybe I put my tension into my poor characters.
Thanks Shelia. I appreciate you and your prayers.
Thanks Kerri, it releases in April. One of these days when things slow down a bit, I’ll do a new newsletter and explain things.
Oh my Priscila, it sounds like you have deadlines to me. Congrats on the baby. I pray you get everything done, so you can relax and enjoy after he or she makes a grand entrance.
So true, Cassandra. I think we all have those days. And I always wonder how in the world non-believers make it through this life without God to lean on.
I’m sorry for your losses, Denise and I pray for healing for your family member.
Oh my Linda, I can’t imagine being a widow once. And especially not twice. I’m so glad you got to move close to your son. Sons are awesome. I hope you get a chance to read the book.
Yes, Lucy. I’m so glad you know who to turn to.
Thank you, Cynthia. I really wasn’t burned out, just brain fried. But I’m better now. I normally have five months to write a book. When life rolls along with no upsets or distractions, that’s plenty of time for me.
Hey Ausjenny, I’m glad God worked things out for you. And for your friends. Sounds like you have plenty of room and you’re doing them a favor in being there since they trust you.
Thanks so much for the compliment on the book. It was one of those that was fun to write and flowed out of my fingertips. I wish they were all like that. Thanks for the prayers. He gives so much peace. Even in the middle of our storm, I still had peace.
Well, I wont’ get everything done, I know that. But I’m trying to prioritize.. which is hard because most of them are priorities anyway.
Matias is quiet for now, so let’s see how much can actually get done. Everything else I’ll have to deal with one day at a time.. probably putting in 1-2hours a day into this.
It sounds like you have a good plan and aren’t stressing over it all.
Thank you for sharing Prayers coming your way Your book sounds amazing!
Do you ever not stress over deadlines? I just realized my baby comes first and try not to freak out, but that means i have two weeks to go and I’m still working more hours than my body can take.
Thanks for the prayers, Sarah.
Wow, praise God! And seriously, the only thing that comes to mind is my last year and/or semester at university. I wasn’t taking that many classes, but they were hard (2 presentations+papers+finals), and when I look back on it, I can honestly say that only God got me through it all, as well as the prayers of friends and family (I passed with much higher grades than I honestly thought I would). God is good :)
Oh, Shannon I feel this so much! Thank you for your transparency. 😊
You’re right, deadlines are always stressful. I guess we just have to learn to deal with them and keep moving forward.
That’s awesome Priscila. I didn’t go to college, but it must be so stressful.
I felt like I was being really vague, Jaycee. I guess we’re all stressed out authors, running with scissors.
Sweetheart Reunion sounds wonderful. I am looking foward to reading this book.
Sometimes I think a deadline would help me finish my thesis… I’ve been staling for the past weeks…
Thanks Emma. I hope you enjoy it.
I understand completely Laura. I have a hard time writing the book I want to write because I don’t have a contract with a deadline. But back before I was published, I wrote 8 complete books without knowing if they’d ever be published. The next time I have a block of time between contracts, I need to set my own deadline and finish the book.
Wow I so admire your perseverance! Isn’t that a fruit of the Spirit? You just did what you needed to do and pushed through. That’s very inspiring. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi Suzannah. Wow, thanks for pointing that out. I do have perserverance. Through over 200 rejections and 9 1/2 years of working toward publication, I stuck with it until I got a contract. Now if I can work on my patience.
Hi Shannon! I’m so sorry for your health scare! So happy all will be okay! YAY! :D I’ve had deadlines like moving in a certain time frame. ANd my body working in ways I can’t imagine. finding the strength to get the majority of stuff moved by myself with some help from church members and my mom. The church members moved all my books on a dolly (well not ALL some of us carried boxes but that helped immensely)! Bless them. ANd furniture my parents were getting rid of….bless them again (and YES! I’m also up a flight of stairs!) But the rest of the boxes and totes was up to me and my mom . My mom, bless her heart insisted on helping and idk how either of our bodies made it through. Hers aging and mine totally out of shape and my health not good either. Btu somehow God got it done and in the time frame I had to get it all done. Blessings all over the place! Getting the apt in itself was a MAJOR blessing to get it so fast and in just the right place, etc. But that’s another story…lol
ps Did I mention I prayed a LOT? lol