When life interrupts . . .

Writing is truly a profession requiring self-discipline.  Normally I'm pretty adept at time management.  Unless real life interrupts.

This week my mother passed away and suddenly I was whisked into the world of making all sorts of decisions and arrangements - along with my sister.  I did have a moment of levity when I called the funeral home and the automated phone line's first option was 'If this is an emergency, please hang up and dial 9-1-1.  Sorry, but for some reason that amused me.  What? Like people call before someone dies?

Of course one of my contacts was to my agent to make sure she monitored any communications from my editor so I didn't accidentally ignore something important.  While my agent is wonderful and was more than happy to come to my rescue, I still suffered Catholic guilt over asking her to cover my behind.

Got me thinking.  How prepared am I for life intrusions when it comes to meeting deadlines, answering email, etc.?  Confession.  I suck at email.  I check it once in the morning and then I ditch it for the rest of the day.  I figure anything urgent and I can be reached by telephone.  But that isn't very realistic.  Not now, anyway.  Everyone seems to do business via text or email.  I'm better at keeping up with texts, maybe because I have a teenager and she tends to text me rather than call.  But I kept wondering what I would do if I'd been battling a deadline this week?  And I really should have been save for the fact that I turned the book in early.

Now I see the importance of establishing a buffer zone for each book.  No more down to the wire because you never know when life ill toss you an unexpected curve ball.  And I know I'm not alone.  I know a lot of writers who wait until 11:59PM the day before the book is due to finish it.  Nothing pisses an agent or editor off more than an undelivered manuscript.  It screws everyone from your editor to marketing to the art department.  It's a house of cards so easily tumbled.

So I'm turning over my new leaf - at least in theory - hoping to remember the lessons learned this week.  So far I haven't dropped a ball but I really don't like juggling so I'd like to avoid it as much as possible.