This morning I was reminded by one of the news shows that there were 79 shopping days left before the holidays. Do you think I found this welcome information? Na uh. All it did was help bring on the old end-of-the-year stress.

As far as the holidays are concerned, I wish I was one of those insightful shoppers who picked up present throughout the year and saved them at the back of a closet. I know some people who actually wrap and label them as they buy them. (I know, I hate those people, lol!) Sadly though, I'm just not a multi-tasker when it comes to shopping. I don't even particularly like to shop. I go when I need something, and then I develop a kind of tunnel vision where I can't consider anything outside the realm of what I'm looking for. So if I need an outfit, say for a conference, I can't at the same time pick up a pair of fuzzy slippers that I'm not going to give to Mom for months yet. My mind just doesn't work that way.

I have a similar problem/condition when it comes to writing. I am, I have always been and probably will always be a linear writer. I compulsively cannot write scenes out of order. Nor do I seem able to work on more than one story at a time. Which is strange because around the house I can do bills, laundry, talk on the phone, and cook like a little many-armed dervish. So I'm specifically rather than universally multi-task-challenged.

It's a concern of mine, really, because it seems that in order to be wildly successful in this business, a writer needs to produce books fast and often - having several books out in more than one genre in a single year seems to have become the standard for success. This certainly wasn't always the norm. One, at the most two books per year used to be what most authors were comfortable with. It's what I'm comfortable with. I don't know that I'd do more than that well, and I'd never want to sacrfice quality for quantity. Nor do I want to live at a constantly frantic pace. And deadlines do tend to make an author frantic. I can't imagine going through that multiple times each year. I mean, "Multiple" can be a great concept in the right context - can you think of one or two?  But not when it comes to stress.

My goal for the remainder of the year is to complete the first draft of book 2 in Her Majesty's Secret Servants. It's due in March (and will be out in December '10), so that would leave me two months to revise with less of a frantic factor in those final weeks. I'm not completely, one hundred percent postive it's going to happen, especially with all that shopping I'm shortly going to have to do, but at least I've set the bar. I just hope I don't trip and break something on my way over.

Do the holidays and end of the year rush leave you frazzled? Or are you able to plough through without breaking a sweat?