Agley, already

I had a plan.

When you’re writing a non-fiction, you need a plan. And since this is my 8th non-fiction book, I know my weaknesses. So I plan.

First, check the contract for the delivery date for the manuscript, then work back from there. Here I hit my first hitch: delivery date is  31 December 2012. Clear and precise. Yes but… What editor is going to be in work and focusing on that date? Surely, she’ll be visiting family for the Christmas holidays and maybe staying over till the first Monday of the New Year?

This does not give me licence to be late. Rather, it means I need to get the manuscript delivered before she goes away. Maybe aim for the week of December 17th? (Note to self: check with Alison!)

Now, assess what needs to be done. The book is to be the sequel to One Day at a Time, my book for at-home carers. It will be a collection of meditations, appropriate Scripture, a prayer and a self-care suggestion as before, but this time aimed at those of us whose loved ones have moved on to residence in care facilities. It’s got a working title, Take Care of Him (from the story of the Good Samaritan) and is already announced on Amazon with a publication date of August 2013. So there is more than a little pressure!

Thanks to lovely WordPress I’ve been accumulating material through my Friday and Saturday Dementia Diary posts. Today’s task was to print them all out and read them over to see what can be salvaged/re-used, and then plan to get the rest written, revised and ready for delivery.

I need a total of 40 so I was delighted to see that Saturday’s post was number 18. I’ve a few others written so hopefully I’m almost halfway.

But I woke feeling a big achy and wobbly. Rolling over and going back to sleep while my incipient cold brewed was much more tempting than going downstairs to feed the cats and start the day.

But, bless them, feeding the cats is necessary, so that got me up, and once up, I’ve managed to keep going thus far. Though as the sun begins to sink in the west, so do I!

I have, however, printed out the Dementia Diaries. I can tick something off my to-do list!

And tomorrow is another day.