I'm back! Did you all miss me? LOL Hubby and I had a wonderful time in the Seattle area scouting out new homes and apartments. I interviewed with two hospitals for a potential transfer and loved both of them. I'm waiting to hear from the recruiter to see if they liked me too. Fingers crossed! We did manage to get into a fender bender while traveling. We stopped in Salem, Oregon for gas. While waiting in line for our turn at the pumps, the chick in the car in front of us decided she didn't want to pull forward and out of the way when her tank was full. No, this woman thought she could continue to back up and then INTO our rental car so she could do a hard right and through a crowded gas station. We had no where to go. The dude behind us was right on our bumper. We had given the girl in front of us ample room to do the LEGAL maneuver, but alas it wasn't meant to be. Many tears and curse words later (all on her part and curse words from hubby), we had a police report in hand and could continue on our trip. Here's the kicker: the chick didn't have insurance and I'm pretty sure the car she was driving didn't belong to her. Not my problem. The Salem police and the Oregon DMV are all over it now. Now I'm back here in California and ready to complete all I need to do for my Washington veterinary license. The latest is fingerprints so they can do a background check. I have to find a time to get my butt over to the local police department to have it done. This one wants the physical prints on a card. California did it all electronically. You would think my prints on file with the US Coast Guard (I'm a military spouse) would be sufficient. Oh well! A girl has to do what she has to do!
Speaking of that, the writing and editing is moving full steam ahead. My Bigfoot erotica as Tawny Savage is taking off. The third book in that trilogy will be ready to release before the end of August. I'll have my romantic suspense as Stephanie Ryan out by the end of October. Here's a sneak peek at the cover I finished this week. Not too shabby if I do say so myself! I wasn't going to go for a couple on the cover, but it is a romance. It's not an erotic romance like some of the others I've written, but it does have a steamy, sensual love scene or two in there! At this point, my weight loss journey is seriously derailed. With this heat, it's been all I can do to try to keep my body temperature from the heat stroke zone. I've put the exercise on the back burner. Yes I know that's not a smart thing to do and I'm looking at ways to rectify that. Swimming would be nice, but there isn't a public pool nearby and I'm not big on swimming in the ocean... excuses excuses...sigh Until next time, The Fat Chick
It's been a while since I've updated everyone. Sorry about that. I've been all over the place with promotions for all four of my pen names, attending RomCon in Denver, and trying to figure out where we're going to end up now that hubby has retired from the Coast Guard.
We're heading to Washington. The Seattle area to be more precise. Not that would surprise anyone who knows my hubby. His home port is in Washington. His family is there and more job prospects. Unbeknownst to me, I was supposed to be the one to decide if we stayed here in California or moved. That bit of information would have been great to know six months ago! LOL! Instead, I've been on pins and needles waiting for hubby to figure out which job offer he'd like to pursue or go for his BA or Masters degree. He talked about all of it...all the time and confused the hell out of me. When I thought he was going in one direction, he'd blindside me with something completely different.
It got bad enough I turned to my old comfort...food. So as you can guess, my weight loss plan went out the window. My blood pressure has still stayed under control, but my diabetes control took some effort to reign in again. Whew! I did have a wonderful time in Denver. Unlike last year's RomCon, this one had a completely different vibe. I felt welcomed, accepted, and genuinely loved! I know that sounds sappy, but it's true. This year I was able to get involved in many author hosted events and interact more with readers and fellow authors. I didn't feel the disdain from people this time because I write erotica...and would you believe my bigfoot erotica FLEW off my table at the book signing? Believe it! We're all closet monster erotica freaks! bwahahahah! Because of that wonderful experience, I was able to escape the pressures hubby and I were under at home. Now we have a clear direction. Why? I pursued a transfer to a veterinary hospital in the area. The corporation I've worked with for the last twenty-one years, has hospitals all over the US and Canada. Lucky for me, two hospitals in the Seattle area have openings available because those docs are transferring within the company too. Win Win!
You would not believe the relief that washed over me after the phone interview with the Seattle recruiter. It's as if my vision cleared and I can finally see we are meant to go to Washington. We're not supposed to continue with the status quo. Both of us hate it here. We need this! Another thing...no more panic attacks. That's right. I said panic attacks. I've been suffering from those and insomnia something FIERCE over the last three months. It's been wonderful to get full night's sleep now. The vibe in our house is so upbeat. No more fear... no more writer's block!
The deadlines I had set up for my projects have of course been pushed back, but now the dates are solid again. Season of Sun and Sin will be out in the fall. Two of the three stories that will be in it are completed. The third will be a dark fantasy I'll pen as Tawny Savage. Her last book in The Bigfoot Chronicles will be out before the end of the summer as well. Stephanie Ryan's debut romantic suspense Dangerous Medicine will be released in the fall. So many other projects are in the works and will be out in their own due time. I'm not going to push myself to get them out before it's time. Edits have to be done properly. Cover art has to be chosen and covers designed that won't be rejected by Amazon and their new guideline Nazis. That's a story for another day. I want to thank all of you for sticking by me through this. It's been crazy, but so worth it! Until next time, ~The Fat Chick
Hello my old friends. It's been a long while. So much has happened since my last post of any kind here at Not Enough Time in the Day. Why? As the title of this blog states there just hasn't been enough time in the day to get everything accomplished. As you know I have suffered from many health issues and continue to battle them. The last few months I suffered a major relapse, regained weight I'd lost, allowed my diabetes and blood pressure to get way out of control. I was a complete mess and didn't like who I'd become. Not. One. Bit. As The Vixen and as myself, I have championed many causes from pets to other authors. That tenacious pit bull attitude was a welcome thing to see by people then, but when I turned that attitude around to stick up for myself and stop being a doormat, things went to hell and a hand basket. I spent too much of my time taking care of everyone else, other groups, promoting other authors and basically letting everything else important to me take a back seat. Hell, I left some things so far behind I thought I'd lost them all together. The real me was one of them.
I blame myself for it. I allowed it to happen. I took on more things than I could handle at once because of some misguided work ethic. I don't like to see things fail. When I commit to something, I hold up my end and that of others to keep everything all flowing. Unfortunately, instead of speaking up and telling those around me I was overwhelmed and could no longer be the back up, I kept working and working and the anger and resentment build up until it finally exploded.
Besides writing under four pen names, I work over forty hours a week as a veterinarian. I literally hold lives in my hands on a daily basis. The stress of that job alone is enough to make anyone crack. It's no wonder that veterinarians have the highest suicide rate than any other profession. I'm not making that up. Veterinarians are "four times as likely" to take their own lives as non-medical professionals, and "twice as likely" as other medical professionals. Click here to read one article on the subject and to find out why. No need for me to go into that in this post other than to say YES I suffer from compassion fatigue. After 21 years of emergency and general practice in economically challenged areas, it's a given for me and something I have to battle every single day. To escape that world, I need to immerse myself in my characters and their stories. In the beginning, I was eager to take on new projects to get my name out there. As I built up more of my own following, I joined forces with others to get all of us more exposure. Unfortunately in the middle of that, I lost sight of what's important in all of it—me. I turned into a person I no longer recognized. Instead of being able to talk things through, I lashed out. I was constantly on edge. I could no longer let things roll off my back. Even the slightest infraction turned into a major production. I spent many nights sobbing uncontrollably, unable to sleep, not understanding I was slowly killing myself. Top that with fighting with former partners over idiotic things, misunderstanding each other at every turn, assuming every single thing mentioned anywhere was a slam against me personally, and you get the idea of a small part of what's been going on in my life right now. I looked in the mirror and hated the person I saw glaring back at me. There was no other choice left for me now. I had to walk away.
I became that person searching for something to continue to be pissed off about. Yes, I did have cause for a lot of it, but that's no excuse for letting everything build up the way I did. It was irresponsible of me to allow it to happen in the first place. I ignored the warning signs that started about a year and half ago. Instead, I thought it would get better if I continued to go with the flow. It didn't. Now I've cut ties with some folks, dropped out of projects, and let go of all the bullshit. Now it's up to me to take care of me. I'm keeping The Vixen close to home now on Sassy Vixen Publishing and at Taboo II. She's where she should be. The nickname was given to me by an old high school friend in honor of me busting out of my shy girl shell. While he's no longer in my life, The Vixen will continue to live on as I go back to the basics. So if you find yourself in similar situations, stop! Cut out all the extra things in your life that really don't matter. YOU are the most important part of the equation. If you find that you've strayed from your original path and you no longer recognize the person in the mirror, CHOOSE to make the changes you need to get YOU back—not the kind of person others what you to be, but who you were born to be. Until next time, ~Tammy
