Getting Back To My Career

Finding balance is probably one of the hardest things I've faced as a new mom. When I was still pregnant, I was so freaking excited to finally be expecting a baby that it was all I could think about. My brain just wasn't willing to work on my books the way it used to. I shopped for baby, thought about baby, talked about baby - ALL the time. When I finally welcomed Andrew into the world, he consumed it.

When my mom was here with us after he was born, I remember that once she laughed at me and said, "He's sleeping Sarra. You can put him down for a while." Only I couldn't! I wanted to hold him and stare at that perfect little face and his tiny hands and feet and kiss his head. I also wasn't getting much sleep myself, which made it hard to find any kind of balance. I was somewhat a zombie those first few weeks. A happy zombie, but a zombie still the same.

When Andrew turned about 7 weeks old, I started working on getting back to writing. It was very slow going in the beginning. I found it nearly impossible to find the time! At that time, he was crying a lot, especially in the evenings. When I finally did find some time to myself, all I wanted to do was sleep.

Well, now that our little man is about to be 3 months old, I'm finding some breathing room. He's been going to bed most nights right at 8:00 or 8:30 and staying asleep until midnight or one. This is such a relief. This is my 'me' time. I can catch up on all my emails, check my writing forums and industry blogs I love to read and yes, I can write! I also tried to find a nanny to keep him 9 hours during the week, but that didn't work out. Instead, my wonderful and sweet neighbor (who has a new baby of her own) is watching him a few hours a week so I can get some writing done. It's awesome. Thursday nights are also my nights for writing with friends. George takes over and lets me have some time, so it's great.

Now things are really getting back into full swing with my writing career. Last week I signed a contract with a publisher to create graphic novels from my series! This week I am going to reach a major milestone of 100,000 books sold. Hard to believe! Next month will be my 2 year anniversary since becoming an Indie author. I will also publish my 6th and final book in my Peachville High Demons series on my anniversary (October 29th). I have a new series waiting in the wings and am working with a cover artist on some custom cover art. I'm working on items for giveaways to celebrate the end of the Peachville series. There's just so much going on, and I love it!

Don't get me wrong, I cherish every moment I spend with baby Andrew. I love him so much and honestly can't seem to stop kissing him, haha. I am so grateful to have him in my life and to be his mom, but it's important to not let myself get too lonely as a mom. It's also important to keep being me, which means spending time with my husband talking about non-baby things, spending time with good friends, and writing. It feels amazing to finally be putting that balance back into my life. I know that some days will still be 100% Andrew when he needs me. And I'm 100% okay with that.