Welcome Blogging Mama!

Guten Tag from Germany! Today on my blog we have Blogging Mama Andrea, who is currently living in Germany and has not just one, but THREE, incredible blogs! In addition, she is a writer-mama to two adorable children. Her post has many insightful points for writer-mamas everywhere!

When I began blogging over a year ago I had a rough idea of what blogging meant, but I didn't give too much of my heart and time to it. I guess having a colicky newborn consumed my life for a year. But a few months ago I stumbled upon Andrea's blog, Blogging Mama, and it inspired me to put more heart and soul into my blog. Since then I've been blogging almost every day as a journal entry, and my writing and thinking have greatly improved.

To thank Andrea for her inspiration I asked her to be a guest blogger here today. I am so amazed by her ability to maintain her writing career, three blogs, two children, a hubby, and life in a foreign country! I hope you'll enjoy stopping by her three blogs (Blogging Mama, The Literary Side, and The Real World: Venus vs. Mars, which she co-authors with Shelle-BlokThoughts) after you read her post below!

From Blogging Mama Andrea...

When Kim asked me to guest post for her here at Zook Book Nook I was very excited. This blog has so many wonderful topics related to being a Writer Mama and topics for writers in general. I find myself giving a lot of thought to the questions at the end of her posts and I often walk away with something to ponder for the day.

Being a writer mama with a 7 year old and a 3 year old is challenging. Even though my oldest is at school all day I still have the little one to keep entertained while trying to fulfill my own goals and obligations at the same time. I, perhaps crazily, maintain three blogs. My personal (and main) blog Blogging Mama, my writing blog The Literary Side and a blog venture I co-created and manage with another blogger Shelle where we feature other bloggers and tackle topics related to adult relationships, In the Real World: Venus vs Mars. I enjoy each and every blog that I write for. I dedicate time to maintaining the relationships that I’ve built through each one. It has become a great platform for me to talk about a wide variety of subjects. Everyday I also seem to find another great blog with a unique or interesting voice and I enjoy reading what other people have to say.

It is hard finding time to continue to work on my own writing. Currently I am finishing my fifth novel manuscript and sometimes I can’t control when the ideas come to me so the kids have to watch an extra video every now and then. Primarily I write during my daughters nap time and then again after my kids are in bed. Once my daughter starts preschool I will have a lot more time to write during the day.

I wholeheartedly admit my housekeeping suffers sometimes when I am in the middle of writing. Once I start bringing in a bit more income the first thing on my list of ‘must do’s’ would be hiring a housekeeping service! I think that is the hardest part about working from home and not having a dedicated place and time to write as a person who works outside of the home does. The little things that need to be done as a stay at home mom are still there and have to be worked in the same as my writing. Ideally I would like to have a home office in a separate room as opposed to my desk just sitting in the living room. That way I could go in and close the door and set actual office hours and truly feel like if I am in my ‘office’ and have dedicated writing hours, then during those hours I am at work. That won’t be able to happen for a few years yet so I am just sort of juggling everything at once.

It is hardly easy to do but I find that I thrive on trying to figure it all out. The times I feel burnt out trying to keep everything going are the days that I step back and revaluate. I have a five-year goal plan for my work written up and looking at where I want to go also helps me to get back on track.

Every writer needs to pencil in some time to just relax too, which I think is hard when you are a writer because not all of us keep regular hours. I go for a run or practice yoga. I do something that helps me to step out of my writing mode and relax. It is a balancing act and I’m not always so sure I’m good at it but I do know what I want to do. I want to write, get my books into publication and possibly write for a newspaper or magazine as well.

If you’re dedicated to continuing to strive for your goals nothing is unattainable.

Thank you Andrea for writing such a wonderful post for my blog readers! Your experience as a writer-mama is admirable and I think we all have learned a lot today from you.