Thank you to Nikki at Storm Goddess Book Reviews for allowing me to drop in for a guest post. Today, I'm thinking about what it is to be a working mom and author. Although I am hopeful that I will someday be able to make writing my full time job, at the moment it is my secondary job. Check that. It is about my fourth job. My first job is to be a mother to my two kids. After that, I work four days per week as a physical therapist in several school districts. Then, I do some per diem physical therapy. When all that is said and done, I get to write. Notice that keeping a clean house is not high on the list. Please call well in advance before stopping by. Thanks.
What I get from most people is the incredulous belief that, with all I have going on, I have time to write. Hold Her Down is my second novel and I am in the process of editing my third novel. The time to write is actually easier than you would expect. I used to be a TV junkie. I had shows that I watched every night. My DVR was full. Now, with the exception of sports and the occasional show, I very rarely watch TV in the evening. The kids head to bed around 8 p.m., so that is when I write. I try to do a little on the weekends as well, especially first thing in the morning (my children do not understand the concept of sleeping in). There are times when I feel guilty about telling my kids 'no' or to give me time because I'm writing, but it is no different than guilt I feel when I'm bringing my day job home to finish work. As such, I try to do most of my writing when it will not impact them.
A benefit to writing from home is that my kids get to see what I'm working on (well, they don't get to read it, but they see the process). I'm an avid reader, which is why I became a writer. My son (who is 10) is an excellent reader but does not enjoy reading fiction (non-fiction, well, that's another story). My daughter is six and is just working on reading. It has been a battle all year to get her to read and just now, it is finally clicking. But when they see me writing, they want to write. My son was accepted into his school district's Young Writers program. We worked with our laptops side-by-side. My daughter is now writing and illustrating her own books, also sitting next to me to work. It is those moments, where the kids are imitating me, that are the most special.
Writing has somehow seemed to fit in seamlessly with my life as a mom. When I'm with my kids, I'm very engaged with them and their activities. When I'm working my day job (which requires a lot of travel in the car), that is when my mind seems to wander and I wish I could be writing. That being said, there are days (weeks) that are crazy and I'm exhausted and the writing has to take a backseat. I have two kids and my hands in a lot of pies. Even without the writing, I'd be tired. But the writing brings me fulfillment second only to parenting.
Elizabeth Zurlo is lost. She's a wife, a mother, a teacher, a PTA volunteer—but somewhere along the way, she's lost herself. Depression and despair can lead to desperate measures and when she is pulled back from the brink of suicide, Elizabeth slowly tries to rebuild her marriage and reclaim her life. Just as she has finally started to put herself back together, a scandalous novel rocks her small town ... and costs Elizabeth her social standing, friendships and ultimately, her marriage. However, the man who seemingly destroyed Elizabeth's life, helps her realize who she is and what she needs to do to become the woman she's not only capable of being, but the woman she used to be.
Author Bio:
Kathryn Biel hails from Upstate New York and is a spouse and mother of two wonderful and energetic kids. In between being Chief Home Officer and Director of Child Development of the Biel household, she works as a school-based physical therapist. She attended Boston University and received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from The Sage Colleges. After years of writing countless letters of medical necessity for wheelchairs, finding increasingly creative ways to encourage the government and insurance companies to fund her clients' needs and writing entertaining annual Christmas letters, she decided to take a shot at writing the kind of novel that she likes to read. Her debut novel, GOOD INTENTIONS, was released in 2013, and her second novel, HOLD HER DOWN was released in 2014. Her musings and rants can also be found on her personal blog, Biel Blather.
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Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KRBiel
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