Guest Post: Kerry L. Peresta – THE RISING

Good day, my bookish peeps. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and got some reading time in. Before I started this blog, I had the notion that all authors sat down at their neat desks, checked their outlines for what should be happening in the story, turned on their computers, and simply picked up where they left off the day before. I didn’t know the difference between “plotters” and “pantsers” in the writing world. I didn’t know that some authors may struggle to put down 1500 words for the day or even the week, no matter what the goal might be. Hey, life happens for authors as well, with its constant interruptions, emergencies, etc. I’m pleased to welcome, Kerry L. Peresta, author of The Rising, to the blog today. Ms. Peresta will be taking us through a not-so-very-good writing day. I hope you’ll enjoy what she has to share and add The Rising to your TBR list. Thank you, Ms. Peresta for joining us today, I’ll now turn the blog over to you.

The Most Irritating Writing Day Ever
Kerry Peresta

 

I tend to be an orderly, systematic, person. When my notes, research, and plotlines coalesce in symphonic symmetry, I want to jump out of my chair and celebrate. When this doesn’t happen, however—which is probably 60% of the time—I sink into an inertia that is wildly unpredictable.

Sigh.

Those days are hard. Let’s examine some of my main creativity-killers and outright dumb irritations that I (and perhaps some of you) experience:

1) At the top of the list is a work-at-home husband on the brink of retirement. Is there ANYthing more irritating than having a man in the home on an intense Zoom meeting, unable to temper his uber-loud and energetic tone of voice? Plus, the guy trots in at least three times during my peak writing hours to give me a ‘status update’. It is endearing that he feels he must share with his wife every jot and tittle of his daily progress, but my zone is interrupted, my irritation quotient is off the charts, and my plotline is toast by the time he finishes updating me. The only thing that prevents mass interruptions while I’m writing is listening to music or white noise in my earbuds at damaging decibel levels. Apparently, this is something I must accept until he’s fully retired and I can shoo him away to go fishing or ride his bicycle or do random man-stuff. For hours, hopefully.

2) A phone call from one of my four grown kids. Now, I adore my kids. Three are married and one is single. All have decent jobs and pay their own bills and enjoy sweet families. If something major happens, I don’t care what time they call, I’m there for them. However, when I’m in my writing bubble, I’m not sure they understand my need to reschedule our conversation. I understand (and am delighted) that they still need mommy occasionally, but could they put their issues on hold until early afternoon? Just saying. Interrupt my morning writing time and boom, spurt of creativity takes major hit.

3) Cat on computer. Cat behind computer. Cat underneath chair. Cat in windowsill. Cat meowing for food. Cat jumping in lap. I bet I am virtually listening to a big, bunch of resounding high fives out there. Writers love their cats. I love my ginger, Felix; and my tuxedo, Agnes. They irritate me to no end while I labor at my Wayfair, L-shaped, pressed-wood desk, but would I want to live without them? Impossible. Besides, eventually they settle into little, furry, doughnuts of contentment on the couch in my office.

4) It is so darn irritating when I’m pecking away at my laptop and the weather is perfect. Sunny, a light breeze flitting through the leaves, the birds at their feeders, flowers at peak bloom, temps climbing to a perfect 78 degrees. It’s too inviting and I cannot resist enjoying the outdoors. Unless I have to turn in something within hours, it is useless to try to focus on my laptop screen.

Unless I have to.

Which is equally irritating.

5) Too many sneak peeks at Amazon stats to see how well my latest book is doing. I am so exhilarated when the ranking stats drop below 5,000 in a category or maybe even below 1,000 that I can write all day. If the stats soar—in that same category— to over 20,000…I’m pretty much guaranteed to be in a bad mood for a while, which derails my zone.

I should quit doing that. Really.

6) The lawn guys show up. They mow, and then they’re blowing off everything in sight with their high-powered gas blowers and they are RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW. I turn up the white noise in my earbuds. I try to ignore their friendly smiles. I try to focus on my fingers on the keyboard. Finally, I slump in my chair and wait it out. If they’re super-duper fast it’ll only take five minutes. On a bad day, ten. Yes, I could write somewhere else when they come, but I love my desk.

And my monitor. And my desk chair.

So I endure the lawn guys. It’s a minor irritation.

7) Lunchtime happens. I am probably the biggest non-foodie on the planet. I eat because my body won’t let me get by with not eating, and that’s the truth. I consider food a fuel, like gas in a car. If there was a pill, I’d take it and keep writing. So when noon or one rolls around, and my stomach starts to grumble…with a big sigh, I leave my keyboard and go pull out stuff from the fridge, throw it together, think about something else that will make the meal ‘balanced’ or whatever. It’s a huge irritation because I don’t like to take the time to fix a meal, and then…there’s clean-up.

I am chuckling as I type this post, realizing afresh how much I love to sit and write my heart out and plot and delight in the twists that happen under my fingers. It is magic, and wouldn’t it be wonderful to write in an environment with no distractions! Yes.

But mostly, I grit my teeth and stay in my chair until 1500 words is done, and try to push away the various irritants that swirl around me like flies. Sometimes I make it to 2,500 words in a day. Even 5,000.

But if the irritants align and all the above-referenced situations happen in one day? One morning? One hour?

No one wants to be around me then. ♦

Synopsis:

After an assault that landed her in a hospital as a Jane Doe two years earlier, Olivia Callahan has regained her speech, movement, and much of the memory she lost due to a traumatic brain injury. The media hype about the incident has faded away, and Olivia is ready to rebuild her life, but her therapist insists she must continue to look back in order to move forward. The only person that can help her recall specifics is her abusive ex-husband, Monty, who is in prison for murder. The thought of talking to Monty makes her skin crawl, but for her daughters’ sake and her own sanity, she must learn more about who she was before the attack.

Just as the pieces of her life start falling into place, she stumbles across the still-warm body of an old friend who has been gruesomely murdered. Her dream of pursuing a peaceful existence is shattered when she learns the killer left evidence behind to implicate her in the murder. The only person that would want to sabotage her is Monty—but he’s in prison! Something sinister is going on, and Olivia is desperate to uncover the truth before another senseless murder is committed.

Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Suspense, Thriller, Crime Fiction, Suspense, Mystery
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: March 29, 2022
Number of Pages: 300
ISBN: 168512092X (paperback)
ISBN13: 9781685120924 (paperback)
ASIN: B09WDXLM72 (Kindle edition)
Series: Olivia Callahan Suspense, Book 2
Purchase Links #CommissionEarned: IndieBound.org | Amazon | Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Author Bio:

Kerry’s publishing credits include a popular newspaper column, “The Lighter Side,” (2009—2011), and magazine articles in Local Life Magazine, The Bluffton Breeze, Lady Lowcountry, and Island Events Magazine. She is the author of three published novels, The Hunting, women’s fiction, The Deadening, Book One of the Olivia Callahan Suspense Series, and The Rising, Book Two. Book Three in this series releases in 2023 by Level Best Books. She spent twenty-five years in advertising as an account manager, creative director, editor, and copywriter. She is past chapter president of the Maryland Writers’ Association and a current member and presenter of Hilton Head Island Writers’ Network, South Carolina Writers Association, and the Sisters in Crime organization. Kerry and her husband moved to Hilton Head Island, SC, in 2015. She is the mother of four adult children and has a bunch of wonderful grandkids who remind her what life is all about.

Catch Up With Kerry L Peresta:
www.KerryPeresta.net
Goodreads
BookBub – @kerryperesta
Instagram – @kerryperesta
Twitter – @kerryperesta
Facebook – @klperesta

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