8pm
Pregnant Self and Writer Self triumphed over Mum Self this eve. I was there. I showed up. I did bedtimes for C3-4, and was with C2 ready for all the cuddles and made up story (they have a very warped idea of Robin Hood. It’s evolved over the years, Robin and Marion have wings and a collection of magic crystals, etc. There may have been the occasional time-travelling dinosaur).
But C2 had finished proudly decorating and labelling Husband’s “Important Dad Autograph” and was desperate to show him. In a weak moment I conceded, but after hanging around a bit and finding C1’s bedroom empty of everything but art supplies and unicorns I gave up and went to bed.
…where I actually managed to dig in to a few chapters of beta comments huzzah! Digesting beta reader’s comments is a tricky one. It’s too easy to see each one as my editor and work to create the version of the book that would most appeal to that individual…which obviously is not the point, and becomes impossible anyway the minute you have more than one beta. And of course I’m not yet lucky enough to have an actual editor. <Pause for pleasant day dreaming>
C1-2 eventually recrated themselves and after a bit of yelling “I want my bedtime! I’ve brushed my teeth and I’m in my pyjamas!” they ignored/couldn’t hear my loud-but-not-too-loud attempts to communicate with them from Bed (no chance of getting up again so soon, Pregnant Self in full sway and presenting the bill for the evening’s frantic chicken herding with toddler under one arm).
They each finally hunted me down and I mustered a couple of fairly decent bedtimes without having to get up – rehashing C1’s preferred story format of “Robin Hood world where something goes wrong and Marion saves Robin” into C2’s preferred storyline (“Robin Hood world, Robin saves Marion as many times as possible”). Silence from C1 and genial singing from C2’s bedroom suggest my efforts were acceptable.
Think I might actually manage a few more beta chapters in peace now 😍🙏 Bed definitely seems a safer place to write than the cat hunting-ground we call a living room. 🤞
Country Mum Writes 