Author Archives: Peggy Jaeger

This little ditty is from over 10 years ago…

I get asked this question a lot. A LOT.

I think it’s because I work outside the home, then I take care of my family, plus I have hobbies such as painting and cooking.

Writing requires a great deal of time and commitment to get it to come out just right. But so does painting, cooking, taking care of loved ones, and working outside the home.

It’s all about time management.

When I worked as nurse, I had fifteen patients every day to care for. Bathing, feeding, administering medications, in addition to interacting with the doctors about the patient’s care, the families, the ancillary services and departments, all were required on a daily basis, and hundreds more I can’t even begin to remember. Back then, overtime was frowned upon and if you couldn’t get all your care and tasks done in your 8-hour shift, you were looked at by the powers that be to see if you needed to be retrained, demoted or fired.

Luckily, I was never any of those because from the get-go I learned how to manage my day accordingly. The most important tasks were done first. Sometimes, this changed daily, or even hourly, but I always started with the most time sensitive and important tasks. Then I went down the line to the ones that required less immediate responses.

This always worked for me and the only time I ever had overtime was when every one else did too: during Code Blue emergencies.

I write in exactly the same mindset.

If you’ve read any of my past posts, you know I’m a plotter, not a panst-er. First thing I do is come up with an idea, then the characters, then I set the plot out in a very detailed synopsis. Once that prep work is done, I start writing the story, but just like when I worked in nursing, I prepare for emergencies: in this case, plot turns and twists. Sometimes during writing I come up with a better idea or situation and I go with it.

Now, to the time I spend writing. I find time EVERY DAY and yes, I mean EVERY DAY, to write. Something. It doesn’t have to be an entire scene. On the days I still work outside my home at my paying job, I tend to write snippets of dialogue or scene descriptions. But I do it everyday, usually before I head to work for a half hour in the morning. No one else is up, I have the entire house to myself and I don’t have to worry about anything else but typing a few lines or paragraphs or pages.

At night, after dinner, dishes, prep for the next day, I write again.

On the days I don’t work outside my home, I can usually devote 6-8 hours at a clip or in divided doses to pound out what I want. Now, of course, there are those off days that I need to do other things, such a doctor appointments, hair dressers, grocery shop etc. so that cuts in to the time.

But the moral of this story is that I write everyday. Every single day. Something.

So the answer to the question of where do I find the time to write is, simply, I just do it whenever and wherever I can, every day.

I love influencers.

I know that sounds weird considering my age ( advanced! lol), but I truly love content creators who are killing it, and I follow a few. One of my faves are/is the Sebrero Sisters on Instagram.

They post, daily, newly released books in the Romance genre. I’ve had several listed over the past few years and whenever I see one on their page, I am just tickled pink. It may sound odd, but when I see a posting with my book listed I feel a little more like I MADE IT!!!

This is a screenshot of today’s post over on Instagram:

SKATER’S WALTZ was currently re-released under my own publishing brand, with a new cover and some updates in the text. Now, this was the first book I was ever lucky enough to have published. It was done so by the WILD ROSE PRESS back in 2015. For the tenth anniversary of the book’s birthday, I obtained the copyright back from the publisher and rebranded and re-issued it.

Now, is it the best book I ever wrote. Nol But it was the first one and you always have a fond memory of your first in the publishing game.

How?

How is it two years since you left us? Left me? Left me motherless? Emotionally adrift? Bereft? I don’t know how I’ve managed to survive without you as a touchstone. You, the person who knew me better than I knew myself. The person who knew me before I was born.

The person who loved me unconditionally.

I have dreams of that day. Nightmares, really. The calls from the doctor informing me that your status was at first, guarded. Then declining. And at last…grave. There’s a description for you. As a noun, it’s a burial place. As an adjective, a description of serious concern or imminent death. Funny how our language can take a word and give it two meanings, and yet, tie those meanings together.

From hospitalization to death…hours. Mere hours.

Those days right after, when I had to deal with your funeral arrangments, Jack’s second fall and subsequent transfer to a trauma hospital 125 miles away with a second major surgery in two weeks; selling your house; dealing with the bills; the forms. The endless forms. Those days are a blur. I think my body shut off the emotional part of my brain so I could get through those days without falling apart. It, my mind, knew I would fall apart eventually, but it saved me from doing it when the grief was so profound and so new. So fresh.

So devastating.

How is it two years?

Two birthdays that were never celebrated. Two Christmas’s without you. The birth of your second great grandchild; seeing your daughter attain publishing success.

How? How is it two years?

Some days it feels like a thousand years; some, just yesterday.

I miss you every day. Every second of every day.

I miss you.

People said the pain would ebb with time; the sadness would lessen; the memories would dissolve.

They lied.

The pain is as sharp now as it was that day I lost you; the sadness? Just as vast. The memories? As vivid as ever.

I miss you.

I…miss…you.