Writer Mama Riffs on Raising A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids

Jason and I dashed Samantha over to a friends and then zipped up into the city to see the fabulous Marc Acito perform Marco, The Musical!

Actually, we zipped a bit too much and overshot our turn. Someone who knows please tell me why men get so upset about getting lost?

Fortunately, I finally asked my (exhausted, so I cut him some slack) husband to please stop so I could ask a nice fellow who was loading his bike into his car (this is Portland after all) where we went wrong.

And, what do you know, we got there. On time and everything. (Honey, I hope you are reading this but somehow I think you are too busy with your play that opens this week.)

Anyway. We got there. And we were so glad we did. Even Jason has to admit that it was totally worth getting slightly lost for the pleasure of an evening of laughing uproariously.

My absolute favorite part was a song that Mark sang (and wrote, I imagine) called, “I’ll be there for you.”

OMG, hilarious! I was dying!

So, my dear reader. If you live in any of the following places, I hope you will cancel all of your plans and make an evening of enjoying time with Marc Acito: [These dates edited on May 5th to just the list of "singing," complete list of appearances here.]

Seattle - Elliott Bay Book Co; May 6 at 6pm (book “singing”)

LA - A Different Light Books; May 7 at 7pm (book “singing”)

NYC - Barnes & Noble; May 12 at 7pm

Menlo Park, NJ - Barnes & Noble; May 13 at 7pm

Beaverton - Borders; May 20 at 7pm (book “singing”)

Cannot WAIT to read Attack of the Theater People. I will definitely post an Amazon review as soon as I do.

I hope you will read it and post a review too. And definitely see Marc, if you get a chance.

We all need to laugh uproariously sometimes.

If you just can’t make it to an appearance, you can always read Marc’s hilarious blog or just check out his Hair Museum at his website.

Go, Marc! Hope to see you on the bestseller list soon.

It turns out I spent a good part of the weekend rearranging my office but it was SO worth it.

I feel like I can breathe again in here. And all I have left to sort is one measly two-inch pile of misc. papers.

Hooray!

Three smart things I did for where I’m at right now in my writing process:

I recovered my view out two windows. I had my back to them before, which was supposed to help me concentrate. Phooey on that! Now I have my back slightly to the door (bad Feng Shui, I know) but I’ll get a mirror and put it in the corner as a cure.

I kicked my six-year-old out and moved her table back into her room. Samantha is playing so much more independently now that she doesn’t mind. I asked her first, of course. I recovered a whole corner of my office! And I’m happy because she’s taking her six-year-old mess with her!

I moved the second computer away from me on my huge IKEA desk (it reminds me of an airplane) to create two workstations. This makes space for a possible assistant (still deciding) and moves Samantha away from me a bit so I can still monitor her occasional computer use (PBS Kids only, so far) without feeling like she is right on top of me.

Did I mention my daughter sings all the time?

She thinks life is one big musical, which is great…except when you are trying to concentrate.

I’ve got a huge amount of open space in the middle of the room that I gained by moving my huge desk into the corner, which feels amazing. I’m going to get a colorful rug at Target to put there. And if the dogs are really good (I said IF), they can come in here and lie on it and we can keep each other company.

So long as they don’t start singing!

Have a great writing week, mamas!

Christina Katz Likes…

(* indicates she really, really likes!)

#92 Book Deals*

#91 San Francisco

#88 Having Gay Friends

#82 Hating Corporations

#64 Recycling

#61 Bicycles

#60 Toyota Prius

#59 Natural Medicine

#57 Juno

#53 Dogs

#51 Living by the Water

#50 Irony

#48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops

#47 Arts Degrees

#45 Asian Fusion Food

#44 Public Radio

#43 Plays

#42 Sushi

#40 Apple Products*

#39 Netflix

#38 Arrested Development

#36 Breakfast Places*

#34 Architecture

#26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)

#21 Writers Workshops

#13 Tea*

#12 Non-Profit Organizations

#10 Wes Anderson Movies

#7 Diversity

#5 Farmer’s Markets

#2 Religions their parents don’t belong to

#1 Coffee*

This was fun. Try it! (And be honest.)

Just go to the list of stuff white people like:

And the select those you like. Or do what I did and copy and paste them all and then delete the ones you don’t like.

Christina.

California.

Crazy (which describes my back-to-work schedule for the rest of the week!)

But, of course, it was worth it. Totally worth it!

And yes, we are sporting our new Disney-wear. That’s Samantha in her princesses coat and hat and me in my Minnie cap and Disney bag.

And I’m holding a cup of really gross coffee. (Hey, you can take the Pacific Northwesterner out of the Northwest but you can’t take away her coffee!)

We’re in So. Cal for Spring Break. Happy vacationing!

Veteran screenwriter Cynthia Whitcomb gave a very inspiring talk last week at the Wilsonville Library as part of the Northwest Author Series. She spoke mainly on the topic of screenwriting and I was impressed by how readily she could draw up examples of her how-to suggestions. I think she gave us the equivalent of three hours of helpful material in one hour, which was inspirational in and of itself.

Even though  I’m not currently working on a screenplay (I threaten to take her screenwriting class on a regular basis but am always too booked up to take it), I so appreciated her insights on the creative process as it relates to writing.

She said a few things I really needed to hear after working hard and long on book two. Specifically, she emphasized the importance of taking down time after a spurt of hard work. Since this practice is not generally validated in hard-working America, it was really helpful to be reminded of the importance of rest right now.

Here’s an article Cynthia has written and reprinted on the creative cycle. See where you are in the cycle.

Are you an inspiration junkie but not big on the follow-through?

Are you all work and no rest?

Are you constantly “resting” without finding any traction in either inspiration or work?

A healthy creative cycle contains all three aspects. So I’m working on my rest muscle. Not only in the amount of work I’m tackling on a daily basis but in the way I approach my daily work.

In case I didn’t mention it, Cynthia was the one who mentioned the spinning ballerina in her monthly Willamette Writers Newsletter Column.

Remember her? Is she still spinning the same direction for you?

I did finally get her to turn left but only after a full day of student critiques. Apparently I “live” in my right brain. What can you do?

Wow. I’m still tired from meeting my Get Known Before the Book Deal Deadline last week.

I worked my (bleep!) off. For months. This past weekend I was tired to the bone.

Apparently I’m still recovering. On the upside, no more getting up at 4:00 a.m.! (At least not this month.)

I can’t tell you how nice it is to have a bit of a breather and work at a nice manageable pace.

I even took a nap today! What an amazing concept.

My workout (on the trampoline while watching Oprah) hit a skid, unfortunately, about two weeks ago. Haven’t been willing to get on the scale to access the damage yet. Not losing sleep over it either, though.

It was such a beautiful day today that I took the dogs for a walk. My husband usually runs them but he has his dress rehearsal for Thoroughly Modern Millie tonight.

I’m thinking about switching my workouts outside now that the weather has been so nice (sorry, snowbound mamas!). Maybe even work my way up to running with the dogs.

Now that would be quite a sight.

This is one of those  posts you are never supposed to write. You know that kind that doesn’t really say anything…yeah, this is one of those. But sometimes I think it’s okay to break the rules as long as you don’t step on anyone else’s toes while breaking them. Know what I’m saying?

Going to definitely do more recuperating this week and enjoy going my hubby’s show a few times with Samantha and some of her little friends. It’s full of tap dancing and twenties fashions and fun.

Catching up on all things household-related, as well. But that’s really boring to write about. Suffice it to say, I didn’t recognize my own kitchen earlier, I’d gotten so used to dirty cabinets and stacked dishes.

It feels like…turning a corner. And I like that feeling.

Happy hump day!

Nothing like some bangs to take a few years off. I was getting tired of watching my forehead wrinkle anyway. And I think that this style of headshot is much more flattering than the real thing.

Michael Moore’s documentaries may or may not be your taste, but if you haven’t seen it yet, you definitely owe it to your children and your parents to watch this film. There’s plenty of thoughtful food for thought, delivered with a lighter touch than  some of Moore’s other more confrontational documentaries.

Personally, I respect Michael Moore for pursuing his truth through his art. I think he takes on issues that need public attention in today’s times.

Watch “Sicko” and then discuss it with friends. Such a big problem as our health care system is going to require  a seed of thoughtfulness be planted in all of our minds.

How strange—but true—that a film called “Sicko” would be that seed.

If you haven’t had a chance to catch the flick, Juno, I highly recommend it.

Unlike a lot of reviewers, who can’t seem to stop themselves from ruining the film for others by saying too much, I’m not going to say anything specific about the film…except that is a must-see.

In fact, DON’T WATCH the trailer. Just be totally surprised. It’s such a rare experience at the movie theater anymore, right?

Don’t miss it, mamas. Especially, if you have a daughter or daughters.

Go today. How about right now?