I have my first official book signing set up! I will be doing a short reading and then signing my book, The Declaration of Independence from A to Z, on February 20, 2010 at Blue Chair Children’s Books in Glendora, California. The time will be from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. If you are in the area, stop by and say hello!

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My first picture book, The Declaration of Independence from A to Z, has officially been listed on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. Yeah!! And, they mark the release date as February 15, 2010, which is just around the corner.

This has been an amazing journey, and it’s exciting to see it finally so close. Hope you’ll all go out and get a copy!

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How important are deadlines? To me they are just as important as the article or story I write. Why? Because I have found the more I make or beat my deadlines, the more work I receive.

Editors have schedules they have to keep. If a writer can help them stick to their schedules, or even get their work in earlier, then they are more likely to use you again. They may even call you out of the blue and give you work that you didn’t even ask for.  This has happened to me repeatedly, so I always make sure I beat my deadlines and give them quality work as well.

And, if you don’t turn in your work on time (except for a major emergency), then your chances of getting any additional work are very slim.

So next time you are given a deadline, work very hard to get your work in at least a day or two beforehand. You never know how it could bless your writing career.

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I went from no deadlines to four and a half, all within one week. This is a good thing, but makes for a hectic schedule, particularly with all four due within the next one to two weeks. Two are for stories with 800 plus words a piece, one is for a 300 – 400 word non-fiction article, another is for an article for my church, and the half is for beginning research on a project for early next year.

So how do I prioritize? First, I look at what is due first and what will take the most time to complete. In this case, my non-fiction article is due in one week and it will consist of a lot of research. Even though my audience will be six year old children, I still have to be able to know my facts so I can “translate” it to their level. I began this project with a trip to the library where I pulled out a stack of books on my topic. I am in the process of reading and taking down notes. I should be done with the research by Wednesday of this week, and then I’ll start the article.

While at the library, I also picked up a book for my project for early next year. Since the project requires some prep time, I’m trying to work that in a bit each week so I won’t be overwhelmed with the process, which will also require a lot of internet searching as well.

At the same time I’m also praying about the other stories and articles I need to write. All of them have specific themes attached to them, so I pray for inspiration. I’ll try to work on at least one this week, in between my research. Once I finish my first deadline, I’ll work double time to finish the fiction stories since they’ll take me the shortest to do. I always try to finish each deadline ahead of schedule so I give myself some extra time to play with in case an emergency comes up.

My juggling may not be the best for some, but it works well for me. You’ll have to decide what is the best solution for you.

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