My blogger friend Sarah Torna Roberts tagged me in a blog hop about my writing process.

Introduction:

First let me introduce my lame summer self, who is quite different from my school-year self. My school-year self is driven. Hardworking. Efficient. She gets up at 4 am to write and then goes to work all day and then comes home to Mommy duty all evening. She gets an amazing amount of work done in a day. (And she complains about it sometimes. And she brags about it sometimes, too.)

But when she gets two months of freedom in the summer, she turns into a completely different person. She takes a nap every afternoon. She reads large quantities of books. She stays in pajama pants all day. She binge watches shows on Netflix. She forgets to do the laundry. She takes the kids to the pool. In other words: HER ROYAL HIGHNESS OF TOTALLY PATHETIC LAZINESS.

All this to say: My writing butt has not been in gear this summer, and I’m already three weeks in. I have hours of free time (I mean, my kids are with me, but they don’t need me to play with them every second anymore) and I waste it.

What Am I Writing or Working On? 

So . . . after all that whining about how lazy-ass I am right now, I decided to get some work done yesterday. I mean, I even bribed my son with exercising on the elliptical (normally off-limits to the kids) in order to get a little writing time in!! Yesterday I finished my book proposal for Transfigured Faith, my spiritual memoir about my conversion to Orthodoxy. Today I emailed queries/proposals to my two top choice literary agents. Over the next couple of days I plan to go through my manuscript one more time to make last-minute tweaks.

Then I wait.

While I wait, I have some projects. I just got accepted as a blogger for Rock & Sling literary journal, and I have a post due to them soon. I also want to write a second piece for Christian Feminism Today. I just told a friend I’d do a guest post at her blog. I also have started a longer essay on growing up as a TCK that I hope to submit to literary journals. So I have some things to be working on.

{Shameless plug: Check out my podcast with musician and writer Rick Lee James HERE. I talk a lot about my conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy.}

How Does My Work Differ From Others in its Genre?

Hmm . . I mostly write creative non-fiction, often with a spiritual vibe. I guess the biggest thing is Eastern Orthodoxy, which is one thing that you don’t read about much. I have really enjoyed writing my Ask About Orthodoxy posts and have gotten good feedback.

It’s weird that lately I’ve been writing more about my MK (missionary kid) life. For so long that felt like something I couldn’t write about, and now I keep thinking about different experiences and events that I could write about (think: winning a watermelon eating contest at the US embassy on July 4th when I was 12. You can’t make this stuff up.) I never thought I’d be a voice for TCK/expat/cross-cultural stuff, but that is what I am becoming, and it’s cool.

{Second shameless plug: I’ve got an essay called Rethinking Witness up today at A Life Overseas website.}

How Does My Writing Process Work?

Again,

School year writing: I write from 4-5 am, and sometimes a little in the evenings if I have time.

Summer writing: Totally hopeless. (That said, I am going on a 4-day writing retreat next weekend, where I will be forced to able to write.)

What Other Writers Would I Like to Introduce to You?

A few new writers I’ve found that I am loving:

Bree Morel at Failing Joyfully

Rachel Haltiwanger at The Inspired Story

Chesha at Chesha in Motion

So ladies, it’s time for you to answer these questions on your blogs! Can’t wait to hear from you!