[ Each month Drollerie Press sponsors a Drollerie Blog Tour for our writers.  This month we are writing about what the Sweetest Day means to us.  Please visit the next stop on the tour.  Catherine Schaff-Stump is hosting Jessica Howe at . . . http://cathschaffstump.com/ ]

 

 Sweetest Day falls in October and it’s a good time to remember those folks who have been supportive of us or shown us kindness and, well, sweetness.  It’s like a mini-Valentine’s day without the commercialism, fluoride-flavored message hearts and fat, naked, heavily armed infants. 

             I know that I’ve talked about my mom and my late grandma in the past, how they supported me and encouraged my writing.  Some folks I haven’t mentioned are my friends, whom I affectionately call the Unseelie Court (mainly due to all their wonderful support when I was writing Unseelie).  My partner, Alec, is also a font of wonderfulness but in all of this, I feel like I’ve been letting them down.

             I have two novels, both done, waiting to be submitted.  I’m working on getting the beta-reads done but I feel so behind and slow!  I’m pregnant with my first kid, due in early December, and I’ve seen my planned deadlines get scooted further and further back as I deal with first one thing then another (health issues, moving to a new house, etc).  I look at all the wonderful support I’m getting and feel like I’m letting folks down both at Drollerie and at home, so to speak.  So as I think about Sweetest Day, it occurs to me that the one person I’m not being “sweet” to is myself.  I’m really cutting myself up about not being superwoman and having everything done at once, which is manifesting in painful Braxton-Hicks contractions and constant migraines.  I think about the novel open on my desktop right now, one that’s less scary and more bittersweet and romantic.  It’s soothing to write something like that when under stress, I think.  Lets me vent out my own frustrations!  I think about the kitties yowling at me for treats (they never do this to Alec—they know I’m a soft touch) and how they snuggle up to me when I’m laying down to rest the baby.  

 Sweetest Day isn’t supposed to be bittersweet but that’s how it’s come to me this year, and it’s like an early Thanksgiving—I’m reminded, despite all of the brouhaha about life events, there’s so many people who make it possible for me to write.  The novel I’m submitting in two weeks (seriously—gotta get this out before the baby comes!) is waiting for me, thanks to the Unseelie Court, and Alec, and my mom and my late grandmother, and of course the kitties.  And despite all the roadblocks that have come up, it really is a sweet thankfulness I feel when I look at the beta-reading notes and the self-edits, thankful that so many wonderful, sweet people are in my life and make it possible for me to sit here and type my heart out each day.

Recently:

• More Stately Mansions, Cosmic SF, to be Published by MuseItUp Publishing on March 1, 2011
• Check out SFR Brigade (See Link Below.)
• VACATION READS {FANTASY} BLOG TOUR – FREE PRIZES AND GIVEAWAYS!
• Two More Great Reviews for Beyond Those Distant Stars
• BEYOND THOSE DISTANT STARS Receives a Rave Review
• Guest (Writer) Post: Hamish MacDonald
• BEYOND THOSE DISTANT STARS WINS AWARD
• PLEASE WELCOME MY DROLLERIE PRESS GUEST, HEATHER INGEMAR
• A Great Review for “GREEN IN OUR SOULS,” by Janie Franz
• PLEASE WELCOME MEREDITH HOLMES, THIS MONTH’S DROLLERIE PRESS GUEST!