I’m excited to welcome my friend and fellow 2008 Golden Heart finalist Kelly Gay to MamaWriters today!  Her debut urban fantasy novel, THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS, releases next week, and has already received a starred review in Publisher Weekly.

She is a three-time RWA Golden Heart finalist, and recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council fellowship grant in Literature, and is currently working on the sequel to her debut novel and a new Young Adult series.

Please help us welcome Kelly Gay!

kgay_small-author-photoVery excited to be here at Mama Writers, and a big thanks to Kris Kennedy for asking me to stop by and chat!

My debut urban fantasy novel, THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS , releases next week (Nov. 24th) from Pocket Books, and I’ve been up to my ears in trying to get the word out, deal with revisions on the second book, and still be a mom to my kids and all that entails. I am exhausted.

But my kids, somehow, end up providing the comic relief I need to stop and take a break, to laugh and remember that if I don’t get something done, it’s not the end of the world.

Case in point:

Talking to my editor about author copies, revisions, book signings, etc., while trying to keep my ‘almost 2 yr old’ son in our front yard… Now, usually my editor and I talk during the day when Boy Child is at daycare, but on this particular day he was home. (I did preface the conversation with a ‘Child is Home Warning’.) It was actually going quite well until said child got a hold of the car keys and pressed the panic alarm and then ran down the sidewalk with the keys. My editor had a good laugh at that. Then, Angelic child ran around the car with the keys, continually pressing the button. Let’s just say it was a total phone call failure of epic proportions, and a pretty good example of my writing life with kids.

I’ve been known to duck into closets to take an important phone call. Take my 9 yr old, (who should know better), recently stuck notes under the closet door while I was talking with my agent. Notes that said:

Is it your agent or editor? Circle one.

I am awesome. Just wanted you to know.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I’m hungry. Hurry up.better-part

There are times when I’m exhausted, stressed out, and just need a break from all the jobs that I do. And, sometimes, I stop existing in the present and get so wrapped up in these jobs, always thinking ten steps ahead of myself, that I forget to slow down and live in the moment that I’m in.

But my kids are always there to snap me out of it. Like Charlie Madigan, my single mom heroine in THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS, my kids keep me grounded, and present, and always moving forward. It’s not easy. But somehow we all manage to get through each day with a little laughter. It might not be at the most opportune time, but I’ll take it.  :-)

Kelly

www.kellygay.net
http://kellygay.blogspot.com