I get great questions about the indie publishing process and what it's like for me, so I've tried to gather some of my answers on a dedicated page. You can find it here!

One author's thoughts on writing with kids at home.

Let's be real. I'm honestly writing this post to myself. I went looking to see if I could find anything online about the reality of being a full-time mama that homeschools and writes books. I found lots of stuff about writing for kids (shocking, right?), but zip, zilch, nada on the writing with kids underfoot.

I CANNOT be the only mama out there doing this. But, man, I felt kinda lonely after that google search. So, on the off chance that you are out there searching too, I thought I'd share some of my challenges and triumphs...

Just So You Know: At the time of this post,
​I have five kids, ages 16, 13, 10, 6, and 2.

• Learned to write in short periods of time. To be honest, there were seasons when I could write for hours, and it was awesome. But it just isn't practical right now. So rather than tell myself I don't have enough time to write anything significant, I decided to learn to write in short bursts. I'm talking 15 minutes. It sounds pathetic, but sometimes I can sneak over to the computer and go unnoticed by the Littles, and crank out a few hundred words.  
• Daily writing (minus the Sabbath). I try to get in at least one fifteen minute session, six days a week. It really does add up.
• Give my big kids each finished chapter. This is my major motivator right now. It pushes me to write the best draft I can, and to keep inching away at it, scene by scene, because They Keep Asking For More.
• Ditch the guilt. I don't know if all mom authors guilt themselves, or if this is just something I struggle with. I know some authors are paralyzed over perfection, but that's not my weakness. Mine is that self-imposed guilt: I should be writing more. Faster. Quicker. Or worse: I can't do as much as I'm capable of, so why bother today? Goodness, me, I am always teaching my kids about grace over guilt! It's time I applied that to myself!
• 100 Day Challenge. I set a counter on my phone and told myself that for the next 100 days I was going to write for 15 minutes, six days a week, and do it without guilt. I have a log I record my daily word count in, but I have a life! Somebody's birthday? Skip it, no guilt. Migraine? Skip it, no guilt. Spent the last hour helping a restless toddler navigate the world? Skip it, no guilt!
  

If you're out there writing with a full life (whether it's from kids or not!), I hope it helps to know not everyone is cranking out a bazillion books. Some of us are baby-stepping our way forward!