I am so impressed by people who can work full time, write books, raise children, and still pay their bills on time, clean the house, feed their families and volunteer at school. I’m lucky if I even have clean laundry most days. Add in some redecorating and school projects, and well, I’ve hit the wall.

I have books out in print for the first time in forever. A MAN FOR MARLEY and SCREW CUPID are both out in print. I’m really excited about that. Also LEAP OF FAITH, one of my all time favorite books is coming out in March and I’m so excited I could do back flips. . .if I had the energy. Instead of blogging about my good news and promoting myself like a mad woman, I’m playing catch up on the laundry and house cleaning.

What’s wrong with this picture?

So tell me, supermoms out there, how do you balance everything and still have time to sleep? I’m not doing so well over here. . .

For me, time is zipping by like greased lightning. I have so much to do and just NO TIME to get it all done. I need a few extra hours in my day to get everything cleaned, cooked, and organized in time for Santa’s big appearance. The hours seem to slip by me like water through my fingers and I can’t seem to hold onto the moments.

I’m trying to force myself to take a few quite minutes every day just to appreciate my many, many blessings. I’m trying to enjoy my children’s excitement instead of dreaming of locking them in their rooms for a few blessed minutes of peace and quiet. (Can you say bickering?) I want to enjoy spending time with my family memebers instead of thinking about what comes next. And most importantly, I want to just SLOW DOWN and make some memories with my family.

I know this season can be terribly, terribly hard for people, especially if it coincides with the anniversary of a death of a loved one. (It’s been 4 years to the day since I lost my grandfather.) I hope everyone can find a few moments to count their blessings, no matter how small they may seem right now. If you can breathe, you’re blessed, take a minute to appreciate it.

Have a wonderful holiday, no matter what your faith, and may 2008 be filled with love, laughter, and even more blessings.

Ari

Lori is a fantastic writer who will grab your emotions by the throat and not let up until LONG after you finish the book. Her stories are ones that stay with you for days and days. Her characters are so real you’d swear you know them, and not necessarily always like them either. She writes compelling mysteries that will have you guessing until the very end. AND, even better, she writes a sex scene that will leave you steaming and searching for your significant other. (My husband wants to bronze her keyboard)

Her mystery RITUAL SACRIFICES will be out in HARD COVER BABY!!! probably not until 2009, but it will be well worth the wait.

So my friend, I wish you congratulations from the bottom of my heart. You’ve earned this and more and I couldn’t be prouder to say I knew you when!!!!

For more information on Lori’s books, go to

www.loriarmstrong.com

If you want to see the cute video her friend did to celebrate go to

http://firstoffenders.typepad.com/offenders/2007/11/big-big-big-new.html

I have a P.O. Box in another town. The reason I did this was because I used to drive by this post office almost every day, as opposed to the one in the town where I live which I never go by. I wouldn’t check my box every day, but I’d try to get in at least once a week.

That worked well for at least three years. But lately, I haven’t checked it as often.

As in, I just checked it yesterday and I had two letters, one came in October and one in September.

Yikes!

I feel awful! On my website, I post my snail mail address in case anyone wants bookmarks. I love to send them out because I love to get mail that isn’t a bill. I feel like such a jerk for not checking my box more often.

You see, when I was a kid, I sent a fan letter to a baseball player. He never wrote back and it broke my heart. I swore if I ever became famous, I’d never do that.

Well, I wouldn’t say I’m famous, but if someone takes the time to mail me a letter, I darn well want to take the time to mail something back.

So, to anyone who mails me something, I WILL get back to you, it just might take me a while.

Sorry!

This weekend my daughter had her birthday party. She and three friends went to the movies, out to dinner, and then slept over. I figured by having them go to an afternoon movie and then dinner, I would tire them out enough so that when they finally fell asleep after giggling and painting nails, etc. they’d sleep in the next morning. By the time they woke up and ate breakfast, it would be time for their parents to come pick them up.

WRONG! I didn’t factor in that daylight savings ended a week later this year and they got an extra hour of sleep!!! They’ve been up since SEVEN and their parents aren’t coming until TEN!!! I have six girls in my house who ate enough pancakes for the Packers defensive line, and have enough energy for a cross country team.

Next year, she can have her birthday party BEFORE daylight savings ends.

All you have to do is send an email to ariannahart@cox.net and put CONTEST in the subject bar. I’ll randomly pick two winners who will get their choice of either TAKE YOUR MEDICINE (romantic suspense) or BEHIND THE ENCHANTED DOOR (erotic paranormal romance).

Contest ends November 30th, so there’s plenty of time to rope your friends into entering too. If they don’t want the book, they can give it to you!

Check out www.ariannahart.com/books for more information about the books, see the covers, and read the excerpts.

and tell lots of people about it, because I hate having contests where I look like a big goober and no one enters, hahahaha

Ari

Immediately, I spun around ready to grab my child from wherever she had fallen or gotten lost. Except, I didn’t have a child with me today. I laughed with the woman next to me and we joked about when it would be that we didn’t immediately jump when we heard “Mommy!”

Finally, I paid for my things and hustled out of the shop. While putting my things into the car (and talking on the cell phone) I saw my mother across the parking lot (a rather large strip mall). I shouted “mom!” and she immediately scanned the lot until she saw me.

Apparently, the power of the word mom transcends time and space. Once you become a mom, you will never again be able to ignore the summons. It’s almost like the Bat phone, once it rings, everything else stops in its tracks.

So, to all the moms out there, the bad news is, your knee jerk reaction will NEVER end. The good news is, you’re not alone.

Ari

Today, my new editor at Samhain asked to buy my book, LEAP OF FAITH. This story grabbed me by the throat and wouldn’t let go. I did two sets of revisions until I had it the way I wanted it. I had to delete a scene I just loved, but it made the plot work so much better, I couldn’t mourn it too long.

I’ve been feeling a tad unloved lately, so this was a huge pick me up.

Being a writer is not for the faint of heart. You have to be able to take a kick in the teeth and get right back up again. Generally, I try to do that, but sometimes you get hit harder than others and it’s darn near impossible to shake it off right away. I’ve been in a writing funk for a while. At first I blamed it on moving, which was a big part of it. Then I blamed it on going back to work during the day, which also was a big part of it.

But probably the biggest part of my writing funk was my fear of rejection. I’d gotten rejected on a book that went to the senior editor’s desk. I got rejected by my editor, who I thought liked my stuff, and another project got rejected by about everyone in New York. I’d had enough rejection to last me a while.

Getting bought soothed that ache rather well. I managed to finish a novella that will be making the rounds, and I’m excited to work on two other projects, one I hope to send to an agent I enjoyed meeting at NJRW.

Isn’t it amazing how one success can make you forget about all the pain writing can bring? Rather like recovering from childbirth, except without the drugs.