The Delicate Art of Juggling Sanity Balls! Sabrina York tells all!

Thank you Cerise, for this opportunity to share my thoughts.I’ve been a published writer for a year now and I have come to a stunning realization. There is just not enough time in the day to get everything done.I know what you’re thinking. Hello Sabrina. You’ve been a published writer for a year and you are just now figuring this out?Yes. What can I say? I’ve been distracted. And when I am distracted I tend to miss things that are glaringly obvious to other, shall we say, normal people.I’ve wanted to be a published author since I was six. It’s been my dream, my goal, my one shining ambition. I had no idea having my dreams come true would catapult me into such a crazy universe.For the past year I have been riding the wildest roller coaster. Writing, editing, publishing, promoting, and having more fun than should be legal in a civilized society. As my alter ego, Sabrina York, I’ve met the most amazing people, gone to conferences, signed books, been interviewed on the radio, had a very exciting (five-minute) stint on a bestseller list and been showered with adoration and manure on review sites. (Thank God for umbrellas, that’s all I gotta say).I also had a full time day job, took care of my family, dealt with a cranky (and old) car, nursed my dog and son through two surgeries, struggled with some health scares of my own AND volunteered for four nonprofits.Phew. How many lives can a writer jam into one existence?
Here’s what they never tell you in the “So You Want to be Published” Playbook: When you get published, LIFE keeps happening! The universe is expanding…with geometric progression.The exciting thing is, well, the universe is expanding.On the down side, we have to keep up with that expansion.I wouldn’t give up a minute of the past year. It’s been a thrilling adventure. But, as I mentioned above, there are not enough hours in the day…There have been other epiphanies as well—some earth-shaking, some not—which I would like to share. Take from these “nuggets” what you will. Flush the rest.·       REVELATION #1: Sleep is not technically necessary for a body to function. If a writer wants to be a writer (and an editor and a promoter and be on frickin Twitter until her thumbs bleed) AND have a day job and have a family and occasionally eat and bathe…sleep may be a luxury she cannot afford. On that note:·       REVELATION #1b: Punch-drunk editing is pretty much the same as drunk editing. If you do it, you’ll regret it in the morning.·       REVELATION #2: We all have a DayBasket to tend. What to put in your DayBasket is the most important decision you will make every morning after “how much caffeine can I fit in my coffee mug?” If a writer is tempted to multitask, i.e. pile task after task after task into the same DayBasket, the basket is likely to overflow and spill onto the floor. This is why it is essential for a writer to keep a cluttered house. You are less likely to notice the spillage.·       REVELATION #2b: On the up side, you can take “Housecleaning” right out of your DayBasket and fling it over your shoulder into oblivion.·       REVELATION #2c: Have a care what you put at the bottom of your basket—No matter how much or how little a writer stuffs in her DayBasket, something has to fall to the bottom. At best, the tender bulbs languishing there will be smashed into flat, indeterminate blobs by the hulking weight of responsibility and guilt.  ·       REVELATION #3: There are consequences to MultiLiving. If a writer tries to cram too many lives into the same physical body, some of those lives may leak out the seams in the form of her sanity. This leakage is often mistaken for “farts” but rarely smells as pleasant.·       REVELATION #4: Do not write wearing bunny slippers. Because you wiggle your toes when you write (especially when you write to music) and your dog really likes to chew on bunnies.·       REVELATION #5: It is important to remember what really matters. The most important things are:o   Be nice. No matter how tired you are or how many Screaming Mimis you had to deal with at your hideous-dear-god-why-can’t-I-quit-my-day-job, you always have to put on a happy face and be gracious when you address your writerly world. Because, frankly, they don’t know. And you don’t want them to.o   We cannot do it alone. It is important to HELP each other, writers and publishers and bloggers and reviewers…we’re all in this together and we need each other with equity that hurts. o   And the most important thing of all? Readers. Every time I sit down to plot or craft or even frickin tweet, it’s for the readers. Everything, all of it, is for the readers. Because without readers, writing is just author masturbation, or authorbation. Which isn’t really a BAD thing, per se. Hell, I did it for years. It’s just so much more fun to do it with an audience.So there you go. Five of the revelations that have helped me maintain my sanity in this brave new world. Do I question my determination to be a writer in the gray hours just before dawn when I haven’t yet finished editing and it is almost time to get up for work?No. Because I am a writer.I am making my dream come true.sabrina York tells us!And frankly, sanity is overrated. About Sabrina YorkSabrina is an award winning author of erotic romance with nearly a dozen titlesavailable, ranging from sweet & sexy erotic romance to BDSM to erotic horror. Connect with her on twitter @sabrina_york or Facebook. Check out her contests, books and newsletter at www.sabrinayork.com.Her most recent release, Rebound—the first episode in a self published series about a group of sexy friends sharing a vacation house—hit #3 on the Amazon free erotica list in April. And yes, she nearly peed her pants with delight. You can read the blurb and excerpt on Amazon.  Or visit Sabrina’s Amazon author page for details on all her books.And you might want to check out all her books because if you post a comment below, with the title of the Sabrina York book you’d like to win in your message, you will be entered in a drawing to win an ecopy. I’ll pick a winner from all the commenters when I return from the RT Booklovers Convention, where I am now, gleefully handing out Hot Dots!Good luck!