As a mama, we all have that instinct to fiercely protect our child from the evils of the world. As a mamawriter, we have more than our kids to protect–we also have our creations.

I’m talking about our writing. We start with an idea, coddle it into a story, polish it into a pristine work of art, and then… what? We sit there, staring at the computer screen, a sense of satisfaction coursing through our creative veins, but deep down we are scared to death. It’s time, and we know it.

Time for what, you may ask? Just like the first day of kindergarten for our kids, or sending them off to college, or anything in between, we now have to say goodbye to our baby. We must find the strength to send our story out for judgment.

For those of you under contract, you know your work will go to your editor, that he or she will chew it up and give it back to you, making it a better book in the end, and one that will hopefully bring many sales. For those still looking for a home for your work, you have an additional step involved. You have the dreaded query letter and synopsis to create.

But I digress. When you send out your work for publication, previously published or not, contracted on the work or not, it is a very stressful event, let me tell you. I’m under contract for several books with my publisher and each one I send them, my finger hovers over the ‘Send’ button as I mull over whether to change this or that. Just like I hovered over my kids when I sent them to their first day of school, not wanting to let them go, I’m the same way with my writing. I don’t want to let it go. When I do, that means it is now in someone else’s hands.

It’s enough to make a mama a nervous wreck.

So this is what I do: I immediately jump into another story. It keeps me preoccupied so I don’t sit and fret over the work already out there. Keep yourself busy, peeps! It helps.

That’s what I do. What about you?

~Allie K. Adams
www.alliekadams.com