(Dis)Organization FAIL

Another "What was I thinking?" moment from Sarah Ballance

Ever had your good intentions backfire? Yeah, we're going there. I decided to get organized, and I don't think I'll ever be so foolish again. Yes, I said it. Organization FAIL.

It all started last weekend. I had one scene left to write in my Noble Authors Blog Tour short story. One scene. I still had weeks before the actual deadline, but I wanted it done so I decided not to do anything else until it was finished. Simple, right?

Yep … until the list of stuff I could be doing started to nag me. After an hour of fighting to get words on the page without thinking of anything and everything else, I gave in to distraction long enough to make an actual to-do list. Organization—yes!

The first task into which I fell was to make a list of all the books I needed to read and/or review. (Hey, I didn't say these were pressing issues … just persistent ones!) By the time I went through my GoodReads, my Kindle, and my inbox, I had over 50 titles. (A week later, that figure now sits at 82.) Then I had the bright idea to go ahead and get the PDFs on my Kindle. The first one went willingly. The rest, not so much. After several attempts, and while in the midst of another headbanging fail, I noticed the files were already on the Kindle. Great. Mission accomplished (and I don't even know how), but now I have dozens and dozens of titles on Kindle. All dreadfully unorganized.

Well, fortunately or otherwise, in the midst of my "Why the EFF won't these PDFs go to Kindle?" googling, I realized I could create folders on the ereader. This sounded promising. So I made a few folders: read, unread, Kindlegraph, etc. Then (you saw this coming, right?) I spent another hour moving titles to various folders. To this day I'm nowhere near finished with that particular task, but at least it all fits in the palm of my hand. Better, right?

Momentarily satisfied, I went back to my Noble Blog Tour short. Less than a paragraph later, I realized I needed to get all of the blog tour info downloaded and—you guessed it—organized. So I created a folder on my desktop, downloaded all of the files, and renamed them by date of appearance and designation. But that wasn't good enough. Nope, back to the to-do list to add those dates (which previously existed as one lump "November: NABT") and their respective "finish by" dates. I'm feeling really good. Organization is awesome.

I hauled that feeling of accomplishment back to the short. But, um, wait. Another plot idea was brewing, and I worried I'd forget before I could expand upon it. Clearly now was not the time, but I've thought for a while I needed to make a list of the books destined to become WIPs. To that end, I've emailed frequent notes to myself, but my inbox is currently full to the tune of 6,306 emails ("only" 4177 are new) so who can find those? So back to the to-do list. A few oft-interrupted hours later (I do have six young children, you'll recall) I had my titles all listed by series and estimated completion dates.

Then, while looking at my meticulously organized list of future WIPs, it occurred to me I needed to update my website (something I try to do weekly). And when I went to cross-reference my blog and my website, I noticed there were a few things I needed to update and reorganize on the blog as well. Don't even ask me how that can turn into hours, but it does.

So let's look at the big picture. I started the weekend with one scene left to write. Just one scene. And now I have 82 books to read and/or review. And five novels to write. And 13 interviews to complete.

Oh, and half a scene left in my short. But no worries. I've cleared the weekend to finish it.

Again.

Want cash? (Well, electronic cash, but it still spends. And enough with the heckling, mkay?) Sarah is celebrating her next Noble release with a BIG e-cash (ahem) prize and there's only ONE way to enter: go to her blog and subscribe by e-mail. Early subscribers will be the first to learn the details of the aforementioned big prize, but there's more: they'll also get the worm. Er... so to speak. Just trust me, it pays. Go.

To learn more about Sarah's Noble Romance titles, click here.

One Year: Looking Back, Moving Ahead

By Sarah Ballance

Oh, to have been me one year ago. Talk about upheaval! I'd just given birth to my sixth child—one who came as quite a surprise to the H and myself, as I'd had a nifty surgical sterilization which was rumored (ha!) to render me reproductively useless—when IT happened. On June 7, 2010 Noble Romance Publishing released my debut novel, DOWN IN FLAMES.

Yeah, I know. Not exactly earth shattering, but it's not something I saw coming. Oh, sure, I had the signed contract and I'd drooled over the cover enough to fear for the lifespan of my keyboard. I'd even survived "the edits"—something of great myth and lore to us first-timers. But I still didn't believe they'd actually go through with it. This was, after all, my book. My first book at that, and my first shot of fiction since grade school. I can honestly say there were approximately ZERO points in the writing process I ever expected the story to see the light of day…let alone with a buy link attached.

It was quite a moment—one to be followed by many more such moments of disbelief.

You see, I never meant to do this author thing for real. I wrote DOWN IN FLAMES because I told someone there was no way, no how, ya-can't-make-me-because-I-ain't gonna write fiction. It took less than a day for my own words to hit me, and from that point I became determined to write "a" book—more specifically, a manuscript—and not because I held any great aspirations toward being published. I just wanted to prove myself wrong. Suffice to say I succeeded—and loved it—but my own refusal to believe the success left me scrambling at the last minute to put something on my website—and by "something" I mean "anything"—and to do the same kind of "something" with my blog. (The latter I didn't truly accomplish until the first weeks of 2011). But even that was nothing compared to conquering my greatest fear.

The Interview.

I am quite possibly the most introverted person you've ever met. Put me in a crowded room—and by "crowded" I mean at least two other people, give or take—and I'd be content to hide under a table if it wouldn't serve only to draw more attention to my quaking self. I'm terrified people will look at me. I have NO IDEA how I managed to get married with a captive audience in attendance, other than to say whoever came up with the idea for the veil is pretty cool in my book. I can tell you all, with zero exaggeration, that the idea of getting my name and myself out there PETRIFIED me. You'd think I had to deliver a speech naked on live TV for all the trauma the mere thought of an interview caused. And if not for fellow Noble author Nichelle Gregory reaching out and inviting me to her blog, I'd probably still be cowering; for her kindness, I'll be long-grateful.

That first interview was nearly a year ago. Since then, I've made fifty-six guest appearances over the internet and have amassed eleven reviews from bloggers and review sites—two for DOWN IN FLAMES and nine for my second release, the romantic suspense RUN TO YOU. (To see the full list of reviews and interviews, click here.) That might not sound like much, but I still feel that pull in my gut when I think about that first interview and how frightened I was to take that step. And now, with my first whirlwind year behind me, I'm about to take another one.

To celebrate my first anniversary among the ranks of published authors, I'm going to do something absolutely crazy.

I'm going to take a step back and write.

Sarah's work-in-progress UNFORGIVEN is the first of a series of at least four romantic suspense titles she plans to finish in the next few months. If you'd like to see the status of her WIPs, click here.

The Strange Truth Behind My Fiction

by Sarah Ballance

I'm a little worried about my next book, but it's not what you might think. The problem is not with the plot. It's not the characterization or even the wow factor. In fact, my concerns aren't with the fiction at all. They're with the truth. And yes, it is stranger than – or, rather, identical to – the fiction.

It all started innocently enough. I submitted my first manuscript, DOWN IN FLAMES, to Noble for consideration on October 10, 2009. Within those pages lurked a surprise pregnancy. Perhaps I shouldn't have bestowed the gift of reproduction on my characters with such diabolical glee because four days later, on October 14, the H and I found out we were expecting baby number six. If you think that's something, think again. Believe it or not, there's more to this story.

My husband and I always planned to have five children. We did exactly that, and the morning after the birth of number five I had my tubes tied. "Tied" as in cut, tied, burned, and DONE. I had to sign the disclaimer, of course (so no child support from the doctor, LOL) but the odds of conception were itty bitty. Just not itty bitty enough. Two years after the tubal we were pregnant and our miracle baby was born a couple of weeks before DOWN IN FLAMES hit the virtual shelves.

Think that's odd? It gets better. Two months after baby number six joined our family, I had surgery to have my tubes removed. (There's still a failure rate, if you wondered.) After the surgery, my doctor shared some interesting news. My tubes didn't grow together end to end like you might expect. Instead, they fused side by side, which is incredible considering the center length was removed on the first go round. But in terms of the two surprise pregnancies – mine and my character's – I chalked it up to a coincidence. (Meanwhile, my husband requested I never again mention pregnancy in a book.)

Then the plot thickened.

My second novel, RUN TO YOU, is a romantic suspense. It's no secret the story is set on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, but what you may not know is there are two rather grisly murders which take place in very specific ways. The scene of the crime, the murder weapon, and the method of attack are identical in both killings. With the novel set pretty much in my back yard (read the true story-behind-the-story here: Real Life Romance and Murder) the setting didn't require much of an imagination. Still, I've lived here 33 years and not once have I ever heard of the attack I described happening locally. (Truth be told, I've not heard of it at all but I'm sure it's happened.)

Well, you guessed it. Eight days after I finished my pre-submission edits, the local news broke the story of a tourist who was attacked on the beach. Same weapon, same method of assault, same injury. She survived and eventually recovered – thank goodness – but the other details of the crime are almost identical.

Now I'm neck deep in murder with my new romantic suspense – guns slinging, bodies falling, the whole shebang – and there's a sense of "triple dog dare" hanging over this manuscript. Oh, I won't hold back, but I can't help but wonder. Still, there's one thing you can count on, dear readers, and that is this.

No one is going to end up pregnant.

Want a sneak peek at my new romantic suspense UNFORGIVEN? Head over to my blog for contest details and your chance to win a great prize pack. Contest open to entries through Tuesday, January 18.