Have you seen the new Eddie Murphy movie, ONE THOUSAND WORDS?  If not, I highly recommend it.  Not for the humor, because I can’t say I laughed much.  And not for the actors, because they honestly didn’t do much for me  But I recommend it for the message behind the movie.

Words.  So many useless words tossed about.  Words to hurt.  To tear down.  To heal.

I’ve always heard it said that we were given two ears to hear first and two feet to shove into our mouth when we think we need to say something stupid.

I love movies and books that make me stop and think.  This movie did that.  But my mind didn’t just stop with words, it flowed over into the message of what is important in life.

For me, it’s my family.  My husband and little man are my life.  But so is my writing and as of late it has taken up far more of my family time than I would like.  Yes, I love to write and yes I am passionate about entertaining through my books, but I don’t want that to ever take away from my family time.

My son is young, a newbie kindergartner, and although he has only been at school for one week, I can already feel that small slip of mommy’s grasp on his hand.  He comes home, bubbling over with excitement about all of the wonderful things he experienced while away at school, and I smile sadly, knowing that a week ago I was a part of everything that happened in his life.  Now, I simply get a daily report.

This movie reminded me that time is precious.  Oh so precious.

For nearly two months I worked insane hours.  Up early, worked through breakfast and lunch, only to emerge from my room to squeeze in time to take my son to the pool and share dinner with my husband.  And as much as I love my books and all of you, I love my family first.

Balance is key.  I have struggled to find this balance.  To make all of you happy with a quick release of my next book 🙂  My husband has been truly amazing.  He took over the housework after putting in long hours at his stressful job.  My son played nicely by himself for hours on end while mommy fretted over a difficult chapter.  My family have supported me in more ways than I can name.  They are what keep me going.

Life is too precious to get hung up on the little things.  And the big things…will take care of themselves 🙂

I know, deep right?

Time also means being patient, a virtue I know I need to be at the front of the line when they hand it out!

So, I have placed a general time frame of releasing my next book, Defiance Rising, in the Fall.  I plan to stick to that, but I will not be releasing a definite date until the book cover is in my hands and the editor has sent the final edits for me to correct.  I will not put my family through a crazy deadline again, like I did for Reckoning.  I need to be mommy and wife too 🙂