I don't mean to walk around in circles...

I didn't intend to get wildly off-track, completely off-schedule and deviate so much from the master plan that it spontaneously burst into accusatory flames and set off the fire alarms in my poor little brain.

I should have seen it coming. Inevitably, the madmen waving homemade cardboard signs saying "The world is ending tomorrow!" will be correct eventually, if they are persistent (and live long enough).

The trifecta attacked: a) family issues + b) house or car trouble + c) a Big Distraction = d) writing doom.

This always happens. Any one of the three things can be worked around. Even if two of the three things are happening, it is possible to still make progress, even if it is slow. All three? Doom.

Let me give you an example.

The water heater was apparently giving us a grace period to pull money together before saying good-bye entirely. That falls under category b) house or car trouble. That's a pain, but no problem. I can still write.
Then along comes some big behavioral issues with little man at home with me all day doing the virtual school/homeschool thing, requiring research/intervention/new curriculum materials. That's a category a family issue (and a headache- but it's mostly straightened out). The two things at once seriously slowed me down, but I was still writing... a little.

Enter the Big Distraction.

I walked away from another book project before I started The Beast. The main reason for walking away is that it was a non-fiction book that I had gone as far as possible on without my husband's help. Help, I might add, that he promised me would be forthcoming when I began the other project.

So, having decided he's ready to move on from the "corporate scene" and reinstitute our personal "plan b" (which I won't bore you with), he enlisted my help, since it would be a "family business". This definitely qualifies as category c, big distraction.

A+B+C=D(oom).

So now I have to fight my way back. My honey wants us to finish the other book ASAP and try to have Plan B instituted by summer-time. Yikes. I just want my well-behaved little boy back, reliable hot water, and time to write The Beast.

I have a big list of what he needs to write/research/fact-check for the other book. I researched plenty of things he will need to do for the Plan B business before we can think of "going live". I also gave him a list of "while you're in the garage fixing stuff..." list.

These things should keep him out of my way for awhile. I hope.

For now, I just need to get back on track. Forget the master plan, forget the conference pitch deadline. I just need to get back to basics: write every day, find the rhythm, and feel like a writer again.

And hope that algebra stays out of my way for a while.