Some of you probably noticed that I had to push the Coven of Shadows release date out from the beginning of October to the end of October, and you might be wondering why that is. The answer to that is multi-faceted, and we’ll talk about each of the facets over the next few weeks.

How Things Are Going On the Coven of Shadows WIP

Part of why I had to push the release date out has to do with this story growing and changing during the writing process. That’s natural, of course. The story has ended up longer than I planned, even with cutting out an entire subplot and moving it to a later book in this series.

The Good News: I only have roughly twenty-two scenes left in this book to draft before I send it off to my editor. 

The Bad News: it’s taking me longer to draft those twenty-two scenes than I initially expected it would. 

Why It Takes Me Longer to Write Now Than It Used To

My life is very different now than it was when I started writing over ten years ago.

The other part of why I had to push out the release date for Coven of Shadows is that I have a lot on my plate outside of writing, so I don’t always get to budget as much time as I would like to for my writing.

Even when I try my best to budget enough time for writing, it doesn’t always work out very well because of my ADHD, executive dysfunction, and other health and life factors. I don’t have any sense of time, so it’s hard to know how much time I need to budget for a certain book to get it done “on time.” I also tend not to schedule in enough cushion between projects, so if I get behind on one project, the entire rest of my year is wrecked.

Today, we’re going to focus on some things that are on my plate outside of writing that I have to schedule my writing time around.

In general, we can break those things down into a few major categories: family and personal time, health and wellness appointments, my other jobs, and hobbies. 

Now, it goes without saying that things can get kind of wild when you’re a wife, mom, and pet parent, so what I wanted to take a minute to go over with you today is my other jobs outside of writing. 

My Other Jobs

What do I do when I’m not writing?

1. I drive food deliveries for ASAP with my hubby.

2. My husband and I help my parents out with whatever they need. (Landscaping. Remodeling. Executive Assistant Type Tasks. House Cleaning. Pet Care. Errands. Etc.)

3. I’m a Personal Assistant to another author with whom I work extremely well.

4. I do book formatting for my cousin, whom I love with all my heart. She writes much faster than I do, so I often do this for her more often than I do this for myself, but I do also format my own books. I used to do this for clients as well, but won’t anymore because I disliked how much it took away from my writing time.

6. I am technically a member of two different race teams, though I am mostly just there for moral support. (I refuse to touch and potentially break mechanical things.) My husband drag races a ‘67 Camaro, and his little brother Randall has a round track asphalt pure stock race car.

Keep Up With My Coven of Shadows WIP Progress on TikTok

@cjbeaumontpnr New #accountability content series starts today! Adventures in finishing #covenofshadows – book 3 of #thebayshorewitchlegacy series. Technically, it’s book 4 if you count the 40,000+ word prequel, which I do. #amwriting #yaparanormalromance #slowburn #supernaturalmystery #darkdrama #indieauthor #authorlife ♬ original sound – 🖤

@cjbeaumontpnr I #amwriting #covenofshadows and today’s #writingsprints are what I call mini-sprints because today is a super busy day. I forgot to mention in the video that this sprint was only 3 minutes long and I had to do it in between other tasks Lake and I are doing to help my parents out. I juggle a lot of responsibilities, not all of them paid, and I have to take my writing time whenever and wherever I can get it. #authorlife #indieauthor #adhdauthor ♬ Cool Kids (our sped up version) – Echosmith

@cjbeaumontpnr Another mini #writingsprint today for #covenofshadows and it feels like I’m never going to get finished, even though I know I am. I have to keep pushing through, even when I can only #write for three minutes at a time. #amwriting #indieauthor ♬ Sunroof – Nicky Youre & dazy