Procrastination...you just kill me!

I felt compelled to write a note here because, well, I promised to keep up with the blog.  But the manuscript for Tarnished and Torn, the fifth novel in the Witchcraft Mystery Series, is due at the end of June.  Which means, of course, that I'm losing my mind.

I raised a son, and one of my frequent admonitions was: "Don't wait until the last minute.  Do your work ahead of time. No sense putting off 'til tomorrow what you can do today."  And the crazy thing?  He listened.  He's now at college and he's very organized and wise about looking ahead and figuring out what he'll need to finish early so he's not under too much stress at crunchtime. 

If only I took my own advice! 

It's not as though I'm not writing all along, of course. I write just about every day.  It's just...I have commitment issues.  The plot keeps shifting and changing, I keep bringing in new ideas, I might be working on a different novel entirely.  Its not until the last few months that I force myself to actually tease out the storyline and stick to it.  And then finish it. And then polish it. 

And of course life intervenes.  There are birthdays, and holidays, and sunny days when I simply *have* to join a friend for a walk around the lake to see the ducklings and goslings.  There are colds and heartaches and sick friends who need my time and attention.

So here I am, once again, with a deadline looming, writing like crazy.  But you know what?  It's still the best job EVER.  And I must remind myself how much fun I have when I get to do things like hang out with my homies at writing conferences...

Me, Nicole Peeler, and Sophie Littlefield

Malice Domestic Conference, 2012

We look like we're in the same band--

but it was pure chance that we dressed in a color-coordinated fashion!

So how about you?  Any words of advice for getting down to work? Or how to survive Deadline Brain?  Or tales of your own procrastination (so I don't feel like such an idiot)???