F is for Focus

 Day 6

April 7, 2016

Welcome to the 2016 A to Z Blogging Challenge! This is the SIXTH year I’ve participated in the challenge. Yes, it may appear on the surface I’m a glutton for punishment, the truth is I think the A to Z is a lot of fun. Today's blog is about focus.  Thanks for stopping by Between the Keys! 

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Attaining focus is not as easy as one would think. Distractions are everywhere and I’m a weak, imperfect writer. What should be easy is often elusive. So what is there to do?

The ability to focus is highly individualized. I can tell you what works for me, but you might need something radically different. I prefer quiet. You might like “white” background noise.

I think short meditation is helpful, but I don’t like to stare at a flame. I like to close my eyes and rest in the dark. You might like to burn a candle and focus on the fire.

Whatever method you employ, learning to focus is a helpful tool. I joked once that all my writing habits are bad ones so you don’t want to immolate me. It’s still true today. I schlep along working on a couple of projects at a time. I know they’ll all get finished. All I need is for one of the stories to strike a spark. When that happens, I get serious.

I shut down the Internet, close the door, turn off the rock and roll music, put the Kindle and the cell phone in the bedroom, and I focus on the story. Having been at this awhile, I can make a lot of headway if blot out the distractions.

None of us can focus for days and days on end. We’re humans. Variety keeps us healthy. But if you can focus, really focus, on the story for a space of time during every writing session, you’ll find it gets easier to do and the rewards reaped will be worth the effort.

KC Kendricks

www.kckendricks.com

www.twitter.com/kckendricks

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Being a writer and talking about time, it seems appropriate to use this blogging opportunity to do a short book promo. Here’s a bit about Fly By Night, book five in the Sundown Saga.  

F is for Fly By Night

 

Lieutenant Fallon Roxbury has a few secrets. His lover Sundown is a shapeshifter, and his entire Clan is under Fallon’s protection. He can usually handle the job but the universe has conspired to align a few unusual events. A body was found at the old rail yard where the shapeshifters once had a village, the clan’s nestlings are about to mature, and his lover and his police partner are suddenly behaving like best friends.

When the clan elders confirm the identity of the murderer, Fallon has more trouble. The suspect is one of the city commissioners and the evidence points to him killing more than once. It’s up to Fallon to find legally admissible evidence to connect his cold case to the more recent murder. He’ll need some specialized help for that, the kind only Sundown can provide.

Bit by bit Fallon gathers evidence, not only about the murders, but about the secrets Sundown has kept. It’s a sobering reminder that looks can be deceiving, and the shapeshifter he shares his life with isn’t human.  

FLY BY NIGHT
Available now at All Romance eBooks