Be Our Guest ~ Cheri Chesley

Due to an overloaded schedule, Ali will be taking a backseat for the time being. As a result, we're excited to bring you a new feature ~ guest bloggers each Monday.

This week, we welcome Cheri Chesley to the Blogck!

Cheri Chesley believes in magic and miracles. When not writing she can be found reading the dictionary for fun or improving her photography. She lives with her husband and numerous children in Tooele, Utah.

You can find Cheri at her website and her blog.

~ ♥ ~

Life is full of little frustrations. Whether it's your children feuding with the downstairs neighbors, your husband dragging you out of bed at midnight to take him his work shirt when you have to get up at 5am, or the job you have to pay the bills--all of these things can detract from the writing experience.

In other words, WHEN do I write? For me, the WHEN is just as important as the WHY.

To answer the why, I'm going to quote someone else; "If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad" ~Lord Byron.

I know he meant mad in the insanity sense, but I find I'm generally more grumpy when I don't get the time I need to write.

We've all heard it. Writing is not something we GET time for; it's something we must MAKE time for. Sometimes that's where I get stuck. Where do I make time? Do I sacrifice an hour of sleep, knowing I'll be tired and not at my best the next day, or do I try to get up early and write while the house is still quiet?

My biggest handicap in being a successful writer is not my absent-minded husband, or being outnumbered by my offspring. Honestly, I'm a night owl with a morning person's job. And it's hard.

I have to get up at 5am to receive the 2 yr old I watch so her parents can go to work. But, mind, I don't STAY up. I put her to bed, and go back to bed myself. To be fair, I did try--for the entire month of June--to go to bed early and stay up to write after I put the baby back to bed. Let's just say I had the worst month of insomnia in my life. I tend to think creative people are more affected by insomnia because we can't get our brains to shut up long enough to fall asleep.

Or, another of my favorite quotes; "Being an author is like being in charge of your own personal insane asylum"~ Graycie Harmon.

I read recently where another author advised everyone to get up and write first thing in the morning, because that's when the brain is still transitioning from sleep and that's when we're the most creative. I submit that works fine for some people, but, for the rest of us, we operate better when we're transitioning INTO sleep. In other words, we write best in the late hours of the night.

Someday I hope to resolve this timing issue I have. For the time being, I just plod along doing my best because it's all I can do.

And I'll leave you with one more quote; "If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster" ~ Isaac Asimov.

~ ♥ ~

Thank you, Cheri, for being our guest!
Next week, we are excited to have Valerie Ipson as our featured blogger.

If you would like to be our guest, email Ali for information.