So, I have two things I want to talk about today.  They have more to do with parenting than writing, but I do think that my perspective as an artist does make me look at these two things differently.

 

My first issue is this; I see all over the internet and all through magazines aimed at moms articles with titles like “Ways to Limit Screen Time For Your Kids.”

 

I’m sorry, what?  I feel like we missed a step here.  Like the one where we all got together and decided that screen time was a bad thing.

 

In case you’re wondering, screen time is defined as any time someone spends in front of the computer, tv or smart device. You know, my entire life.

 

I highly encourage my monsters to have ‘screen time.’  In fact, here’s a list of the things my kids do on screens.

 

• Go to school
• Read
• Play games with each other
• Play games with me and the husband
• Play awesome creative games like Mind Craft, where you can either farm, or go to the moon in a rocket ship depending on how creative you feel like being that day.
• Watch shows like Mythbusters, which is why the older monster wants to got to MIT and become an engineer.
• My younger one has an art program that allows her to create some really cool graphic artwork.  Her grandma’s in box has been stuffed.
• Email relatives they don’t get to see very often.
• Watch movies with me.  I love watching movies.

 

Now, you tell me, why would I want to limit any of that?  I’m not saying my kids are couch potatoes who never go outside.  But I am saying that I’m not going to tell them to put down that book and go do something else.

 

In fairness, I don’t have a problem with my kids not wanting to play outside.  They totally want to go do that.  So I guess I might be singing a different song if that wasn’t the case, and if your kids don’t lie to you about the weather just to go outside, disregard my irritated attitude.

 

I think the articles we should see, instead, should be emphasizing quality screen time instead of demonizing the quantity.  For instance, I would let my kids email their grandmother a million times a day, but I do not allow them to blow up their friends emails.  They can play Minecraft and Portal so long as their homework is done, but we don’t do first person shooters.  (Okay, that’s a lie.  They don’t do first person shooters.  I love me some Resident Evil.)  They can watch Dr. Who, Mythbusters and all of the documentaries they want, but I will be damned if they’ll put Spongebob on in my house.

 

Which brings me, by the by, to my second rant.  Spongebob offends me as an artist.

 

I’m not saying it’s the artwork.  It’s fine, bright, cheerful.  Just what you’d want for a children’s show.  I’m not saying it’s the writing, or the music, or the asinine characters.  No, it’s the way one particular character is portrayed, in stark contrast to the main character.

 

That’s right, I’m going to defend Squidward.  I’m going to defend him a lot, and do you know why?  He loves the arts, lives for them.  He wants to be a painter, and a musician.  Both are admirable things to aspire to.  He hates his terrible, dead end job.  He wants to be better at the things he loves, and so he practices with every available second he has.  He would like his neighbor to not ruin his damn house and garden!  And the thing I admire most is that when he does something, he wants to be as amazing as possible at it.  He doesn’t want to just garden, he wants to grow the most rare and beautiful coral.  He doesn’t just want to play music, he wants to have his band play at the Bubble Bowl.  And if he is going to blow a bubble, it should be the best of bubbles.

 

So what happens to him?  He’s demonized.  His hopes and dreams are ruined at every turn.  And that’s funny?  I can ignore the fact that Spongebob himself is content to spend his days in a shitty job and screwing around with his friends.  People with no ambition aren’t bad, or even wrong just because they have a different lifestyle than me.  But I cannot ignore the fact that he constantly belittles the person who actually wants more from his life.

 

Alright, my rant is over.  Thank you all for your patience while I overreact to a kids cartoon.

 

What Rocked This Week

 

• I finished editing all of the stories for Days, and Other Stories.  I also got a good friend and amazing artist to do the illustrations for me.  It might not be done by Christmas, but I’m looking at a hesitant release date of mid January, early February.
• I got my first rejection letter for Broken Patterns, and I sent it right back out.  Many more will follow, I’m sure.

 

What I’m Looking Forward To Next Week

 

• Spoiler!  I got an amazing idea for a new novel.  Now, I’m kind of obsessed with Woven, so I don’t want to break into novel writing time for it.  So, I’m going to write the story as a serial, and publish it right here!  No further news here, I’ll just tell you that it’s Science Fiction.  I like this, because it rounds out my Speculative Fiction title. More news as events warrent.
• This is my last full week at the day job before a really long Christmas Vacation!  I am going to take a full two days off from the day job and all writing.  That’s so not like me, but I am going to try.

 

Just everything right now makes me excited.  Finishing up two big projects means that now I get to start on more new and exciting projects!  Stay tuned.

 

What did you do this week that you’re super excited about?  Let us know in the comments below.

 

Don’t forget that I’m on Patreon now.  If you want access to more of my stories, or if you just want to support Paper Beats World, check me out right here.

 

Holy crap, we have a week and a half until Christmas, and it doesn’t feel like my list is getting any smaller.  Next time I think it’s a good idea to publish a book in the middle of December, someone remind me that it’s a really, really stupid idea.

But I get a little done, every day.  Every day there’s progress, every day I’m a little closer to a finished product.  Every day I can say, “I got some done.”

Of course, it’s really easy to say that.  “Just do a little, every day.” Yeah, okay.  What does that even mean?  And more importantly, how does someone put that into practice?

There’s not just one way, actually, but a whole list of tips that I use to make “A little every day,” work for me.

Pomodoro Timer

I’ve done a whole post about this before, and after ten months of using it I still swear by it.  25 minutes is usually all the time I want to spend on house cleaning.  25 minutes is also usually all I can ask of myself to sit in my chair and focus, what with the adult ADD and all.

Priority based to do list

Alright, so it takes me no less time than 15 minutes to write my to do list for the day.  Why?  Because it’s a two step process.  Step one, write down all of the things I need to do/want to do/ don’t want to do but probably should. (I’m looking at you, bedding that needs washed.)  Then, I rank these things from most to least important.  I might get everything on my list done, but then I might not.  At least if I only get the first three things done, hell if I only get the first thing done, it was a really important thing.

Know when to multi task, and when not to

This one’s all about being honest with yourself, and knowing yourself.  I know, for instance, that I can update my social media with half of my brain.  I can also make boring phone calls to the bank, post office and doctors office with maybe one fourth.  Then there’s all the time I’m going to be listening to hold music! I can get a whole weeks worth of tweets done during one call to my gas company.

Writing and editing, though, that takes focus.  I wouldn’t dream of trying to do that while I’m doing anything else.

Insist upon your time

I know when my monsters were little this was harder.  But a child as old as two can understand ‘quiet time’ for at least ten minutes.  When the older one was that age, I used to play Baby Einstein and Bear in The Big Blue House so I could write.  Now that they’re older, have set rules in place.  I tell the monsters that I will be writing, and how long I will be writing.  This is based on give and take.  I give them my attention before and after, and they give me peace until my timer goes off. (Yet another way the pomodoro method helps me.  It reminds the kids that I am focusing, and tells them how much longer I will be focusing for.)

But know it might not happen anyway

I might have a morning ruined by a doctor’s appointment.  I might have to deal with a dishwasher throwing up soap all over the floor.  I might have a cat that’s decided to take an interest in the Christmas tree and knocks the damn thing down on herself, Harper.  One way or another, I know that I can’t depend on getting a lot done, so I have to be content some days with only getting a little done.

A little every day works best if it really is every day.

That’s the hard part.  I take a day off here and there, if I’m sick.  I also always take one day off a month and specific holidays.  But most days, I make myself get some little thing done.  A few pages, written, edited, typed, something.  Every day I need to be farther ahead than I was before.

 

I may have never mentioned this before, but I am a huge fan of Charlie Brown.  Now, of course I love Snoopy, especially when he’s at his typewriter, but man do I love Linus.  He’s got such an amazing mind for History, Theology and Math.  He’s perfectly capable of going toe to toe with Lucy, his big sister.  He tolerates the love of Sally Brown, and holds tight to his beliefs of The Great Pumpkin.  He is able to do all of that with, possibly because of, his trusty blue blanket.  I really believe that Linus’s blanket represents a sense of self comfort and confidence.  Linus believes that so long as he’s got his blanket, he’s okay.

 

I’ve told you all of that to tell you about Project Linus.  Every year, thousands of children lose their homes, for one reason or another.  Natural disasters, fires, horrible family situations, all of these can drive a child out of their homes with nothing to call their own.  Now, there are a lot of charities that will help provide food, shelter, cloths, toiletries and all that sort of thing.  But if you are a little kid spending your first night in a strange place, it doesn’t matter that you’ve got a bed and a tooth brush.  It’s a strange bed, and a strange tooth brush.

 

That’s where Project Linus comes in.  They collect homemade blankets for children that have been driven from their home.  And you can help them.  Here’s how.

 

• If you’re crafty like me, you can knit, crochet or sew blankets.  If you’ve got kids that are learning the craft, that’s great.  They love getting blankets for kids, from kids.  I’ll include a link below for all of the info you’ll need to donate your own blanket.
• Of course, they always take money.  Everyone always takes money.
• And, you can always spread the word on your own blog or website. If you do talk about it on yours, let me know and I’ll link to it.

 

Here is a link to the website, for more ways to get involved.

 

 

On any other day, Mason would have walked home slowly. He might have stopped to chat with friends or check out one of the stores along the city streets between his school and home. On any other day, there wasn’t much waiting at home for him.

Today was different. He rushed through the streets, eager to be home. Today, the planets had aligned, the clouds had parted. Not only did his mother have the night off, his older brother’s girlfriend was out of town so he’d actually be home. For the first time since Thanksgiving, they would all be home for dinner.

He rushed up the stairs of the apartment building, giving the air an expectant sniff as he went.

That was the first sign that something was not going to go as planned. There was no scent of pot roast, or tomato sauce coming from his apartment.

He opened the door. There was George, stretched out on the couch with his textbooks, making notes on a notebook laid out on his stomach.

“Where’s Mom?” Mason asked.

“Got called into work,” George said, “Guess one of the girls didn’t show up for her shift.”

“So why did Mom have to go in?” Mason cried, tossing his bag on the chair.

“Because she’s the boss,” George said, rolling his eyes. “Man up.” He shut his notebook and stood up. “I’ve got to get this report written. Mom left some chicken in the fridge.”

“Where are you going?” Mason asked.

“To type my report,” George said. He sauntered into his room, and shut the door.

Just like that, Mason’s family dinner night was reduced to microwaved chicken and the tv for company.

Mason warmed up his food, and plopped down on the couch. “Might as well be living alone,” he muttered, turning on the tv. He flicked through the channels. Mindless cartoons, old sitcoms, reality tv show. He finally settled on a show, and dug into his dinner.

It was a stereotypical show, with a boy around his age. He caught Mason’s eye because he was wearing bright red sneakers, the same ones he’d begged his mom for on his last birthday. The boy also had black hair. Not just dark brown, like Mason’s, real true raven black.

Even so, Mason was only paying half attention. The show had a laugh track, which tended to irritate him. He changed the channel.

The new show started on a shot of nothing but an empty living room, with some background music. Then, a boy walked in. Mason thought he looked just like the boy from the last show, right down to the red sneakers.

He sat down and looked around the empty room. “Might as well be living alone,” the boy said.

“An American epidemic,” Mason replied, and changed the channel.

The next morning, Mason was awoken by George shouting from his room. Mom’s voice was right behind his.

“What’s all this yelling?” Mason asked, stumbling into his brother’s room.

“Look!” George cried, pointing to his desk. There sat the shattered remains of his computer. Something had gone through the screen, leaving glass on the desk and a black gaping hole where the screen had been. As an added insult, if it mattered, the keyboard had been snapped in half.

Mom stood in front of the desk, still in her pajamas, arms crossed. “Mason, you didn’t by chance wander into your brother’s room and break his very expensive computer, did you?”

“Uh, no,” Mason said.

“I didn’t say he did!” George cried.

“Well, what kind of explanation do you have?” Mom cried. “Your computer’s smashed to bits, and you’ve been the only one in the room.”

“Mom, why would I break my own computer?” George asked.

“I don’t know, but that’s the only way this could have happened,” Mom said. She threw her hands up. “I don’t have time for this. We’ll talk about how you’ll be buying a new computer when I get home from work.”

“And when would that be, exactly?” George cried after her as she stormed from the room.

Mason was expecting to come home to an empty house that afternoon, and in that he wasn’t disappointed. George had already come and gone, leaving a dirty plate in the sink that Mason had every intention of leaving there.

Not wanting to catch any secondary fury when his mom came home, Mason got all of his homework done before getting into the slow cooker full of chili Mom left.

With nothing better to do, he again settled in front of the tv.

There was an old movie playing. Mason turned the volume up, and started eating.

Somehow, he was not surprised to see the raven haired, red sneakered boy had found his way into this movie as well.

George came home some hours later. “Mom not home yet?” he asked.

“Nope,” Mason said.

George plopped down on the couch with him. “What are you watching?” he asked.

“Some game show,” Mason said. “This weird kid keeps showing up, though. I think the channel’s doing some promotion or something.”

“What kid?” George asked.

“That kid with the sneakers,” Mason said, pointing.

George shook his head. “Go to bed, Man, you’re seeing things.” He got to his feet, and went to his room.

Mason was still on the couch when Mom came home awhile later. “What are you still doing up?” she asked.

“Just watching tv,” Mason said.

Mom sat down on the couch. “I’m sorry I haven’t been home much,” she said. “It’s just been so crazy. Girls just keep quitting, I don’t have anybody I can depend on there. Now the regional manager is coming into town, so we’ve got to make sure all of our shit’s in order before he gets here or I’ll get fired.”

“At least then you can be home more,” Mason said.

Mom laughed, and shuffled his hair. “Sometimes I think that would just about be the best thing to happen to me. But then the bills wouldn’t get paid, and it’s not much fun on the streets.”

She must have seen Mason’s face fall, because she said, “Tell you what. I’ll get one of the girls to work for me tomorrow night. I promise.”

Mason smiled, but he said, “You can never get them to do that.”

“Maybe it’s time they remembered who the boss lady is,” Mom said. “I’ll make it happen.”

The next day was Saturday. Mason spent the morning cleaning the apartment, so that Mom would have no excuse but to be in a good mood when she got home.

Afternoon came,and Mason waited expectantly. He didn’t even look at the tv remote. But Mom didn’t come.

George came home from wherever he’d been. “Is Mom home?” he asked.

“Not yet,” Mason said. “She said she’d be home by one.”

“Big surprise, she’s late,” George muttered.

“She’ll be here,” Mason said. Just then the phone rang. He ran to pick it up.

“Hey, Hon,” Mom said. “Listen, I’m going to be late. The regional manager just called, and he’s coming in tomorrow.”

“So you can’t come home,” Mason said. The bubble that had inflated his chest all morning popped.

“I’m sorry, Mason,” she said. “I’ll get everything finished up, and be there as soon as I can.”

“Yeah, okay,” Mason said. He hung up the phone.

“She’s not coming, is she?”

“She might still,” Mason said, “She just had to finish some things. She’ll be home.”

“No, she won’t,” George said.

Still feeling deflated, Mason went back to the couch. “Maybe she’ll let us order a pizza, and we can watch a movie.”

“That’s alright,” George said. He was already dialing his phone.

Mason thought that George’s girlfriend must really like him, because she got there in record time. She barely said hello to Mason before she and George vanished into his room.

With nothing else to do, Mason turned on the tv. There was the raven haired boy, on a rerun of some cartoon. He looked right out of the tv, right at Mason. “He just couldn’t wait to be away from you, could he?” he asked.

Mason sat up, and looked hard at the screen. But the raven haired boy had already vanished into the back ground.

George’s girlfriend was still there the next morning. Mason got up after Mom left for work, so he didn’t know if she was aware of their guest or not. He did know that he’d just met the girl and he was sick to death of her. That could have had something to do with the fact that she couldn’t seem to unglue herself from George’s face.

Around noon she finally said, “I better get home. My parents will be home from church soon.”

“Aww, okay,” George said. He was wearing what was quite possibly the dumbest grin Mason had ever seen. “I’ll walk you out.”

“Bye, Mason, it was nice meeting you,” she called as they left the apartment.

“You too,” Mason replied, which he thought was generous of him. He hadn’t met her. He hadn’t even gotten her name.

Mason had just turned the tv up when he heard screaming outside. He ran to the window. George and his girlfriend were there, standing next to the remains of her car. It looked like someone had gone after it with a crowbar. The front and back windows were smashed, and each door dented in.

“Guess she won’t be coming over for awhile,” said a voice from the tv. It was the raven haired boy.

Mason went to the front of the tv. There stood the boy. “Can you, can you hear me?” he asked.

“Sure I can,” the boy replied. “I’m the only one who can, by the looks of it. No one cares about you here.”

“That’s not true,” Mason said. “Mom cares about me. She just has to work.”

The phone rang. Mason ran, to get away from the raven haired boy more than anything.

“Hey, Mason,” Mom said, “How are you doing this morning?”

“I’m fine,” Mason said, trying to forget the look of fury in the raven haired boy’s eyes.

“Good. Listen, I’m bringing someone home to dinner tonight.”

“You’ll be home for dinner?” Mason asked.

“Yep,” Mom said. “My regional manager got here last night, and he brought someone who’s training to be a manager with him. She’s going to take over a few of my shifts this week. And, then the regional guy asked me out.”

Suddenly she sounded all fluttery, like a teenage girl. “His name’s Paul, and he’s really nice. He wanted to take me out to dinner, but I hardly ever get to eat with you guys, so I invited him to our place instead.”

“That’s cool,” Mason said. He could feel his chest tightening.

“It’s the first time a man’s been interested in me in a very long time. I really hope you guys like him.”

“We will,” Mason said.

They hung up, and the raven haired boy said, “Wow, a boyfriend? You’ll never see her now.”

“She’s bringing him here,” Mason said.

“This time,” the boy said. “She won’t bother next time.”

Mason turned away from the tv, but he could still hear the boy. “What if they have another kid? How much time do you think she’ll have for you then?”

Mason walked out of the room. He grabbed the crowbar from his closet. There were still flecks of paint from the car on it. A quick glance out the window showed him that George and his girlfriend had called a tow truck, and were in the process of leaving. Good.

Mason sat down on the couch, the crowbar across his knees, and waited. On the tv, the boy with the raven hair and red sneakers winked at him.

Holy crap, my to do list just tripled!  Now, I just went through the whole thing during my plans for the month post about ten minutes ago, so I’m not going to rehash the whole thing.  I am going to give you all a quick update on my 16 before 16 list.

 

1. Finish Broken Patterns.  That one’s a great big done!
2. Unpack the house.  Um, not so much.  But I planned to spend this whole coming weekend on that project.  I am sick of not knowing where my books are.
3. Make a nice holiday printable pack for all of you.  Check back with me later in the month.  It’s going to be tight.
4. Don’t drain the emergency fund for Christmas.  So far so good.
5. Buy new pillows.  That’s going to be a gift my husband and I are getting each other for Christmas.  My neck will thank him.
6. Get Days on the market.  Still waiting to see if one last story is going to be accepted, and then I am so ready to go.
7. Take advantage of the park more often.  So, that’s been a bust.  I haven’t set foot in that park once.  I can’t even blame the weather, it’s been beautiful.  I have to do better this month.
8. Schedule monthly dates with the husband.  We had a great stay in date night that included some good wine and the roast of William Shatner.  Low key, but that’s us.
9. Schedule and perform end of year review.  I have a list of though provoking questions to ask myself, and a big heart shaped sticker on my planner.
10. Plan and take one day off a month.  Totally nailed that one last month, and I will take two this month.  Christmas Eve and Day.  We’re going to bake and make crafts, and watch movies.
11. Read Yes Please.  I need to get that one on my tablet and get reading.  I’m almost done with Big Magic, which I love by the way.
12. Make and keep my doctors appointment. In all honesty, and this is really bad of me, I might not get that done this month.  I will at least make the appointments, they just might not all be this month.  I am so bad about that sort of thing, not going to lie.
13. Plan a day to make gifts for co workers at the day job.  I have great plans, that I will not share here, since some of them might read this.
14. Get a significant amount of Starting Chains done.  I am almost done with the first read through.  It’s going to be a project, but the story is solid.
15. Get a puppy.  Not yet, but pictures will follow.
16. Rethink stock building.  I’m collecting coupons and doing math to figure out how much of a thing I should have in the house at any one time.  It’s a whole thing.

 

How are your lists coming?

 

What Rocked Last Week.

 

• Thanksgiving was awesome, as always.  We had a great dinner at my mother in law’s place, watched It’s Thanksgiving Charlie Brown and listened to Alice’s Restaurant.  Perfect holiday achieved.
• We got the tree up, and I got all of my Christmas cards written.
• I got JR Tolkin’s Letters From St. Nicholas.  I’ve never read it, and I am very excited about it.
• I sent Broken Patterns to ten literary agents.  Best case scenario is ten polite rejection letters, but it’s a start.

 

What I’m Looking Forward To This Week.

 

• I am looking forward to getting all of these dumb boxes unpacked and all of this junk dealt with.  Nothing makes you hate every single thing you own like moving.
• I get to order Christmas presents this week.  I like doing that.

 

So what are you doing this week?  Any fun holiday plans?