Balance and the Mommy Writer by guest author Natalie Bahm

Every so often we have extra bad days. Maybe the kids are being difficult or our husbands are cranky or we went to bed too late and are over-tired. We might complain in a two hour long phone conversation, write a nasty email or even cry in the shower. And then all of a sudden, we get an email from a fellow author whose heart was touched by a little boy she'd never met. And whoosh. All of the sudden, everything is put back into perspective. Thank you, Natalie, for bringing us back to reality. You are truly an inspiration.

 

Hi, my name is Natalie and I’m a writer and a mom.  When I first started writing I thought I was doing something sort of unique—raising three kids and writing a book on the side.  Then I started blogging and realized there are SO MANY mommy writers out there. All of us are trying to balance caring for our children and chasing our dreams.

I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t always balance those two things well.

Three years ago I was immersed in writing and networking and trying to make this dream come true.  I was so totally focused on it that I let other things in my life slide.  And then I had a MAJOR reality check.

I was pregnant with my fourth baby and I got really sick.  Then I had my baby boy and he was terribly sick.  He spent two weeks in the NICU learning how to breathe and eat on his own.

Suddenly all of the writing and publishing stuff that I’d been stressing about for months didn’t matter at all.  The only thing I cared about was getting my baby healthy.

I gradually got back into writing as he grew and got stronger, but I tried to do it in a much more balanced way (“tried” is the operative word here, I definitely mess up some days). 

 I set aside certain hours (usually naptime) to do all of my writing and blogging. This doesn’t give me much time—usually just an hour or two a day. I write slowly and I’m not nearly as good a blogger as I was before I had my baby.  But I feel better about the way I spend my time.  My little guy is two-years-old now.  He’s more work than an incontinent puppy with a chewing problem, but everyday I remember how grateful I am to have him.

 He’s the only one of my kids who is home all day and I really want to enjoy this time. When he heads off to school I know I’ll have way more time to write, but I’ll also miss his sweet baby kisses and exclamations of “I lub you, mommy.” I constantly remind myself that publishing is not a race or a popularity contest and I need to make it work in a balanced way.

 My first book, THE SECRET UNDERGROUND came out last Friday.  It’s a very special project that me and my agent, Sara Megibow, put together as a fundraiser for a little boy named Jayden who’s been in the hospital on and off since birth.  You can learn more about the book and the project HERE.

 Every penny of the profits will go to help Jayden and his family.  You can buy a copy through any major eBook retailer.  HERE are some links.

 Thank you, Lisa and Laura for letting me visit today!

The To Do List From Hell

It's October 1st and that sound you hear is the sisters Roecker weeping.

We have 31 days to do all of the following:

1. Produce four side splittingly hilarious vlogs. We're hoping you'll be laughing with us and not at us, but at this point, beggars can't be choosers.

2. Write some amazing blog posts for the epic Lies That Bind blog tour. (Details coming soon!)

3. Pull together 28 super-secret gift boxes for giveaways.

4. Figure out how to fit 10 days worth of clothes, 3 jumbo boxes of Twizzlers and blue wigs into a carry on suitcase.

5. Convince people to come see us at tour stops.

6. Somehow mentally and physically prepare our husbands to take care of their children for 10 full days so we still have husbands (and children!) when we come home.

7. Edit an entire manuscript so that it resembles something like an amazing, thought provoking, un-put-downable young adult novel. All 73,000 words of it.

8. Whip up some amazing Halloween costumes for our kids. Or (if I'm being honest here) purchase some amazing Halloween costumes for our kids.

9. Deal with the emotional and physical grief associated with losing Gallery Girls (possibly forever). Andy Cohen, if you're out there, please, please, please film a reunion. And please, please, please sign those crazy bitches up for a second season.

10. Finally complete the 30 Day Shred, so we can squeeze into our (extremely limited) tour wardrobes.

What do you think? Time definitely isn't on our side, but crazier things have happened, right? Right. Or maybe we'll just go crazy trying to do all of this crap. Either way we'll keep you posted on our progress.

The Truth About THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

My mom read THE FAULT IN OUR STARS first. Then she demanded that we read it. Laura read it next and then finally it was my turn.

I finished it Saturday night. Sobbing.

I think you should read this book, but even if you decide not to read it you should read this quote:

"Grief does not change you...It reveals you."

I know this to be true. And it terrifies me. Because what will grief someday reveal about me? I have no way of knowing. Not really.

But I'm so glad I read THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. Because even though it's fiction (the Author's Note made that fact abundently clear), I have no doubt that there is truth in John Green's words. And strength. And beauty. And, yes, even hope.

Child Rearing Advice Goop Style

Gwyneth Paltrow discussed some of her best parenting advice in a recent In Style article, including this little nugget of wisdom:

“I only let [Apple and Moses] watch TV in French or Spanish. When I’m in France, I go to [Boulevard] Beaumarchais and buy all their cartoons.”

Well, I guess we now know who to blame for the rampant use of casual French in our culture. If I tried this with my kids I'm guessing it would manifest into something like this:

Why We Can't Shut Up About the Get Real Book Tour

Ok, so I know you're probably SO sick of us right now. Come see us on our book tour! Buy our book! Look at our crazy hair! LiLa! LiLa! LiLa! (Yeah, you're totally chanelling Jan Brady. It's ok. Own your inner Jan. It's easier that way. Trust me. We've all got her in there somewhere.)

But here's the truth, we can't stop talking about this stuff because we can't believe it's actually happening. Sourcebooks is sending us on a national book tour. They're investing in us, investing in The Liar Society. And we're floored. FLOORED.

Back when The Liar Society was released in March 2011 our publicist told us that we'd be lucky to be stocked at Barnes and Noble for a month. He said we had one month to sell a lot of books to keep our book stocked and the way he said it made it pretty clear that he thought we'd all be eating ice cream in hell before that happened. Of course that was right after he admitted to not having time to read our book. To go from having a publicist who never read our book to a 9 city book tour is kind of insane. And we're grateful and excited and overwhelmed and terrified that no one is going to show up. Which is why we haven't been able to shut up about it.

So, yeah. Sorry. We suck. We're obnoxious. But we also have pretty new bookmarks!

If we send you one will you maybe consider forgiving us for being so promotion-y and come see us when we embark on this crazy adventure? Because there's no doubt in our minds that we'd never have made it this far with out YOU, loyal blog readers (Especially our Grandma, because she's awesome! You get as many bookmarks as you want, Grandma! You too, Kim J.!) Anyone who reads our day-to-day ramblings on a regular basis should have something to show for it.

So comment if you want a bookmark and we'll email you for your address. Thanks for putting up with us!

Real Talk With LiLa: Solange

Lisa: I feel so bad for Solange.

Laura: Who the hell is Solange?

Lisa: Exactly.

The Maghic Wisard by Jack

I was cleaning out Jack's backpack tonight and at the very bottom squashed between a crumpled Nutrigrain Bar wrapper and an old apple was this:

Jack's first story!!!! As a writer this was a huge moment for me. A chance to finally see what stories were churning around in my 7-year-old's brain. I was not disappointed.

Here's the text of THE MAGHIC WISARD in its entirety:

The Wisard was working on his new magic tric.

Boom! Bam!

No! No!

Wat happened?

He called 911.

Move over Harry Potter.

Coming Soon to a City Near You...

The dates for the Get Real tour are finally finalized and we could not be more excited!!! Well, excited and terrified. I have this vision of us stopping at bookstores and seeing lines out the door for the crazy talented Janet Gurtler and Miranda Kenneally while Laura and I sit at a table alone eating Twizzlers.

So, um, you guys will come see us, right? Because we will be so happy to see some friendly faces in all of these new cities. This marks a lot of firsts for us:

1. First national book tour.

2. First time away from our kids and husbands for more than a long weekend.

3. First time visiting Seattle, Phoenix and Minneapolis.

4. First time we've spent 10 consecutive days together since 1997.

5. First signing of a finished copy of THE LIES THAT BIND.

Now that I've successfully made us sound like long lost members of the Duggar family, please click here to see a full list of tour stops and be sure to let us know if you're planning on attending one of the events. We'll save you a pearl bracelet and a Twizzler! And, if you aren't able to make it to any of the tour stops you can always order a signed copy of THE LIAR SOCIETY or THE LIES THAT BIND from The Learned Owl.

The incredible Sourcebooks team has a ton of events and promotions around the tour and the book launch planned for the next couple of months, so stay tuned for contests, vlogs and assorted randomness.

Can't wait to see all of you in November! We'll be the ones sitting alone at the table with neon colored hair and pearls!We're so excited, we're so excited, we're so...scared.

The Third Roecker

Stacey has the thankless job of being the most talented Roecker sister. Not only is she the best swimmer, best tennis player and the only Roecker with rhythm, she also owns her own design company where she single handedly creates gorgeous paper confections on a daily basis.

Because of her bottomless talents she gets stuck doing crap jobs for her bossy older sisters. As you might remember, one of those jobs was taking our new author photos. The fact that Stacey managed to make us look like people who shower on a regular basis speaks volumes about her talent.

Well, Stacey, as a thank you, we really wanted to give something back to you. Something special....

TA DA!

Ok, ok, all kidding aside, as soon as you pop that baby out, let's take some real sister pics, ok? Normal hair, no bellies, lots of laughing. Think Mike Roecker is up for the task?

P.S.
I know in my heart of hearts that someday Laura is going to write a picture book and Stacey is going to illustrate it and they'll both be on the Today Show while I sit on the couch at home sobbing and reading this blog post. Thanks for nothing, Sisters. I'm pissed at you already.

Win One of FIVE Signed Copies of THE LIES THAT BIND

Our super amazing publisher is giving away five signed copies of THE LIES THAT BIND on Goodreads! Click here to enter to win immediately. Please?


And...check out the final cover. Gorge, right? I will never, ever get sick of Kate with blue hair.

Honestly, we can't believe that it's almost November 1st. We are so excited for you guys to read the next installment of Kate's adventures. She's got a LOT going on. Including a new love interest (Sorry, Liam fans...) and a whole new mystery to solve. And a whole lot of randomness because it's a Roecker book and the Roeckers love the random.

Stay tuned for our officially official tour schedule, blog tour deets and lots of fun contests to celebrate our book birthday.

P.S.
If any of you are interested in going blue for the launch, just send us your profile pic and we'll doctor it up for you. You know you're dying to go blue (pun SO intended), so send us a pic!

Conversations with LiLa - Fashion Fail

Lisa: Omigod, have you seen the latest Lands End catalogue?

Laura: You get the Lands End catalogue?

Lisa: Sure do. And their stuff is so cute lately!

Laura: Really?

Lisa: I know, they've like rebranded or something. Remember when we used to make fun of Mom for wearing Lands End stuff? I just placed a huge order. Can't wait...

Laura: Uh, you realize that Lands End hasn't really changed at all?

Lisa: Oh no, they totally have, I used to think their clothes were for moms.

Laura: Right. They are for moms. They have the exact same stuff. You're getting old. You probably just ordered mom jeans! *cackles with glee*

Lisa: *quietly hangs up phone* *cancels order* *weeps*