Nothing Like a Little Added Deadline Pressure...by Jenny Gardiner

I don't know what I was thinking when I emailed my editor and told her I'd love to do one additional book with her this year.

I adore this editor and we work really well together, but as is the case with indie editors, you need to plan well in advance to line them up. I'd already done two books with her this year, and had long ago scheduled another terrific editor for three more books. But when she offered to squeeze in one more with me, well, I couldn't help but give it some thought. Of course this happened just as I was brainstorming some new series ideas, and then I thought, well, if I start another series I'd better get three books ready to launch at once, and well, that would mean it would be just perfect to have that extra edit lined up!

At the time I'd just finished a book and had what I madly viewed as idle time in front of me for a few weeks. Sure, I had a crazy May lined up: my youngest graduating from UVA undergrad, my oldest graduating from UVA with 2 Masters degrees, and my middle coming home from halfway around the world in Australia for a very infrequent visit to coincide with graduations. Throw in some 18 people staying at my house for graduation (I think I was in deep denial about that).

Oh and did I mention our house is on the market and there's all sorts of extra work involved with keeping a house clean and organized for any sudden showings? No worries...All under control...

But 5 weeks ago, this was hardly on the horizon! I had time on my hands, baby! I was going to crank out that additional book in no time flat and be in bed by midnight! Not only that, I'm going to confide in you my little secret: I was also planning to resurrect my all-but-dead daily mindfulness-based stress reduction meditation practice and also get my fat ass off the couch (where it's been parked writing books) and resume my anaerobic interval spin workout so I could try to get back in shape. And maybe get back to regular yoga classes. Let me tell you, people, I was going to be Wonder Woman (minus the metal breast plates)!

Um, er, well...Graduation is this weekend. I'm too stressed without free time to do any stress reduction (I had been doing it! I swear it!). Finding a daily hour for the bike workout? Are you kidding me? I have been running around like a crazy person preparing for the onslaught of houseguests and graduation and graduation breakfasts for 20 people both mornings before the ceremonies and then the combined graduation party mid-day Saturday for some 50 people as well as lunch mid-day Sunday for another 30 and, yeah, very little writing has happened.

Plus, I am releasing a book in less than a week and kind of need to figure out my marketing strategy for that, eh?

So just now, instead of writing? I gave my dog a bath. In my defense, with all of these houseguests showing up, we don't want the poor thing to be shunned because she smelled like, well, dirty dog.

Ah, well...the good news is I was the girl who pulled all-nighters studying for exams in college and self-conditioned to crank out papers one after the other shortly before their due dates. It must be the former journalist in me, but I definitely thrive under time constraints, so...the good news, is I just sort of lit a fire under my butt, which isn't such a bad thing after all. Now if I could figure out how to burn the fat in that butt with the fire now scorching it, I'd be good to go!

Hope you can check out my upcoming release: It's Getting Hot in Heir, book 7 in my It's Reigning Men series! 

It's available for pre-order, coming out May 24! You can get it here: iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, GooglePlay

And I tell you I really am writing book 8! Just not as fast as I'd planned to. Here's the cover--what do you think? It's available for pre-order here:   iBooks   

Oh and for a limited time I've got an awesome free book for you if you sign up for my newsletter: Something in the Heir, book 1 of the It's Reigning Men series! Sign up here  and you'll be first to hear about deals and giveaways.

    

           

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Self Care Over The Holidays

This is a tough time of year for me. It's almost a running joke in our family except everyone knows I'm so sensitive in December I can't withstand the teasing. It might be the blah weather. This is what it looks like around here right now:

Very monochromatic. It might also be the hype to overspend or the highs and lows on the news. Great stories of hope and generosity lift me up, then incredibly sad ones pull at my heart strings. Every year the winter blues ambushes me right in time for the holidays.

Today I was stressing out as I was leaving the house to run errands and my husband, that stalwart, wonderful man, said, "Skip the gym. You look great. Take one thing off your list."

I stood in the doorway for a good minute, fighting this excellent advice. It's not my nature to skip things things that require discipline. If I skip once, I'm afraid I'll turn into the person who skips three months and pays dues for nothing.

But when I finally took his advice, I felt such a rush of relief! Which is why I am sharing this with you. Maybe you're also going in a dozen directions. If so, please give yourself permission to slow down. Take one thing, just one measly thing, off your list. You'll feel so much better, I promise!

Now, one thing I have managed to learn over time is to delegate to my children. My daughter is actually grown and out of the house, but she's coming home for Christmas and she loves this season.

This is last year's baking and it does brighten up the joint, doesn't it? She'll decorate the tree, too. Just having her here will give me a huge boost. Plus I have my son's high school band concert this week. That will force me to quit overthinking and enjoy the show.

The funny thing is, for years I resisted believing I was 'one of those people' who had trouble with this time of year. My husband mentioned it at least five years ago, saying, "You know, honey, there ARE people who find this time of year stressful."

Not me. I thought it was self-inflicted. I am a high energy person, I set myself a lot of tasks, and I'm very disappointed in myself when I, for instance, skip the gym. So I always think that if I manage things better, I'll be fine.

This year I'm facing it. There is something about this time of year that is hard for me. I plan to self-care in these ways so I thought I'd share and encourage you to try a few of these if you're feeling stressed. I kept it simple on purpose. I'm trying not to overthink.

1. Eat more veggies!
2. Try to stay away from the junk food
3. Lighten up the schedule
4. Go for walks
5. Be open to spontaneity 
6. Unplug!
7. Enjoy the moment
8. Get some sun (if it appears!)
9. Delegate
10. Rest

I think I forget that this is a time of year when we're supposed to be slowing down and hibernating.  Maybe Number Eleven should be Read a good book. I definitely need to steal an afternoon for that. 

How do you feel this time of year? Does it ever feel overwhelming to you? I would love to hear from anyone who uses a SAD light and whether they've found it helpful. I'm thinking about getting one. 

Take care and Happy New Year!

A USA Today Bestselling author, Dani Collins writes sexy, witty, vibrant romance for Harlequin Presents, Tule's Montana Born and herself. Dani lives in rural Canada with her high school sweetheart and their almost grown son. 

Look for her exciting baby swap duet, The Wrong Heirs, coming from Harlequin Presents: 

THE MARRIAGE HE MUST KEEP, January 2016

THE CONSEQUENCE HE MUST CLAIM, February 2016

Stress Yoga, Anyone?

I've always loved to exercise, though unfortunately my lifestyle has not lent itself to nearly the level I once enjoyed, nor the amount I now require, for that matter.

One of the activities I have found most gratifying both physically and mentally is yoga. So much so that for a couple of years I practiced yoga daily. And it was then that I was probably my most chill, as I conditioned my mind to find a quiet center, and so many little life annoyances—traffic, obnoxious people, an out-of-control life--just stopped bothering me.

But as my schedule somehow grew more demanding, yoga became one more added stress in my life—a have-to that I felt guilty if I missed, but anxious if I attended, knowing as I did I was failing to perform some other mandate in its stead.
So while yoga at first presented itself as downright medicinal, it became, well, I don't want to say toxic, but it became contraindicated. I know, I have people in Yogaville right now wanting to injure me upon reading my suggestion that yoga is anything but peaceful, except that it's so un-yoga-like to want to injure someone. What I mean by that statement is that yoga became part of my stress. But it wasn't yoga's fault! It was all my doing; I was simply incapable of letting yoga do what it was supposed to do: relax me. Instead, my yoga practice became a practice in managing high blood pressure, because the longer I was at yoga, the more I was internally freaking out about what I had to do but wasn't doing because I was doing what I wanted to do which wasn't what I should be doing because I needed to be doing other things. Yoga=Peace became Yoga=Internal Strife.


Finally I had to bid farewell to yoga, much to my chagrin. Which of course has caused more stress, which, I know, would be ameliorated by just practicing yoga. But I'm trapped in a Type-A-need-to-earn-money-to-send-my-kids-to-college-and-god-forbid-dream-of-retiring-some-day-without-having-to-hand-out-smiley-face-stickers-at-WalMart-till-I-keel-over vicious cycle, the tail wagging the dog and the dog eating the cat (or in my case, the parrot) and who knows what else.
But I think I have a solution to my quandary that will enable me to return to my practice without feeling one iota of anxiety: Stress yoga! I want to become the Doyenne of Stress Yoga. I will be to yoga what Jane Fonda is to aerobics. Or what the Hamburglar is to McDonalds. You decide.

Now hear me out. For years Hollywood has masterfully hybridized something good-for-you with something usually ludicrous, just to test the limits. In the lingo of L.A., they've taken exercise and made it High Concept. For the uninitiated, High Concept is flipping something on its head to make you say "Huh!" Like blending Jane Austen with zombies in a novel (bet you never thought you'd read that one, did you?).

Some of the quirkier Hollywood workout trends? Paddle surfing. Budokon (a fusion of yoga, martial arts and meditation). The Katana sword workout (à la Kill Bill, only with faux swords). Hoopnastics (hula hoop, yoga, ballet and pilates). Boogie Box (hip-hop and kickboxing). Piloxing (pilates and boxing). Or how about Bollylates (Bollywood dancing with Pilates). (I confess, I just made that last one up, but it probably will be a fad soon enough). But Naked Yoga is indeed a reality that could only be gotten away with in Hollywood—with any lesser physiques in attendance, the entire class would have to be conducted blindfolded. Although I would argue that seeing Nicholas Cage engaged in naked yoga is enough to make me run the other direction.
And in a cruel reversal of the trend, someone is making a killing on a new L.A. fitness craze called Celebrity Jogging, which doesn't involve celebrities jogging, but rather everyday schlubs running from hotspot to hotspot, cameras at the ready, trying to spot celebrities while elevating their heart rates. They should call that the Stalking Workout.



Hollywood types are known for launching all sorts of trends in the name of health and fitness (or at least thinness)—the latest being weeks-long cleanses in which you ingest only a concoction of maple syrup, lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Or vinegar, if you really want to be wild. By comparison my workout will be downright healthful. Besides, you've already heard of Power Yoga, right? I'm just taking it one step further.

Stress Yoga might well be my salvation, since I can readily market it to an ever-busier population that just might have no choice but to multi-task being extremely stressed while being centered and ultra-chill. All I need to do is market this class (which is, if nothing else, slightly ironic) to the right people and I'm guaranteed if the power-workout fiends in Los Angeles take to it (and who wouldn't? Those folks have to be as stressed as they come) I am bound to strike it rich. And if I become rich, then I'll have time on my hands and voila, I'll be able to return to yoga, stress-free.

Hey, at least it's not Naked Hula-Hoop-Swordplay-Hip-Hop-Kickboxing Pilates, right?

My Plan

I freely admit it - I'm not as organized as I used to be. I had lost my ability to multi-task and worried I would never get that talent back. But it all came back to me in one heart-stopping moment. Allow me to back up a few steps. :)

In about mid-May, my editor emailed to say she would be sending me her notes on the revisions and edits she would like for my December book, Dancing with the Devil. Now, anyone with kids in elementary school knows that the last month of school is crazy busy with field trips, concerts, yada yada yada. So I set myself a plan of how to get everything done in an organized fashion so that when the revision letter arrived, I'd be ready. And I was.

Friday May 23 - editor's email arrived with a note asking if I could please have it back to her by June 16th. Not a problem; I was ready. I spent most of the day reading over it several times and making notes, with the plan to start in on the work on Monday morning. And I did.

My Plan was going beautifully. (can you hear God laughing? Yeah, I wish I'd been listening to Him more carefully that morning.)

Monday night, I was sitting on my couch with my printed out manuscript spread all over, my lap top going, and my note paper beside me. One kid was in bed and the other 2 were going to be shortly. At first, the smell was only a whiff. Then it was a full on "hmmm, that doesn't smell right" kind of thing that got me off the couch to investigate. (Let me digress here a moment to add that my husband was on a business trip in another province at this point). I follow my nose (just like the Froot Loop guy) and whip open the man-door to the garage to find a lovely little fire just a cookin' under one of the work benches. ACK!!! So all at once, I'm the person I used to be! I'm multi-tasking like a crazy woman.

I'm:

1. Hurding the kids outside

2. Calling 911 with one hand while

3. Trying to figure out how to work the stupid fire extinguisher and kicking myself for not having learned before then.

Long story short, the fire dept arrived, couldn't save the garage, but thankfully, they kept the flames from getting into the house. (smoke damage is a royal pain in the you-know-what, though). At this point, it sounds really bad, but here are the good things.

1. My brother in law is a full-time fireman with the local fire department

2. said brother-in-law was acting chief the night of our fire

3. the entire fire department was at practice when I called 911 and the practice hall is literally 3 blocks from our house.

Once the fire was out, my BIL knew there were things I needed. So back into the house he went and brought out my keys, my cell phone and, God bless him, my laptop and scattered manuscript pages. Sure, they smelled horrible, but did that matter? No!!

Needless to say, My Plan has not gone anything like it was supposed to. LOL I did manage to get the revisions done and in on the 16th (though, technically, it was the 17th in New York, but according to the clocks in my house, it was only 11:45ish - LOL). I am learning how to multi-task again, though. It's not pretty, and I'm still pretty horrible at it, but I'm getting there. Because, apparently, just because you have a fire or some other stressful or tragic event in your life, the world does NOT quit turning. Bills still have to be paid, kids still have to get to baseball/hockey/soccer and everyone still needs clean clothes and food on the table. The added 'fun' though is that we need to keep on keeping on while we try to work with 3 different insurance companies (boat, truck, house) and find a place to live and continue to assure the kids that once the restoration company gets everything cleaned, they really will get their GameBoys back (something that is vitally important to all three of them).

All kidding aside, we were incredibly lucky. Sure, everything we own is now in boxes, either here at our rental house, or in storage with the restoration company, and sure we're going to be out of our house for many many months until they rebuild it from stud, but in the grand scheme of things, none of that matters one iota. It's truly amazing how much of our "stuff" we can live without. The important thing is that the kids got out safely.

And so did the manuscript. (come on - all you writers - you know what I'm talking about! LOL)