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Writing my next book from a treadmill desk.

tread

I’m sure you’ve heard the cliché about klutzy people being unable to walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. I hope I’m not that klutzy because tomorrow I try out my new treadmill desk—treadmill compliments of our daughter—desk compliments of my handy husband.

Sitting for hours in front of my desk is killing me. I’ve been using my jogging trampoline, but I can’t really write for any length of time while jogging on the trampoline.

Tomorrow I start working on Haunting Danielle, Book 3—and I’ll be doing it from the treadmill desk. Wish me luck. Hopefully I won’t fall on my butt.

When life interferes…

HautingDanielle (1)At the end of May I received two comments on my blog in response to my post “Instead of a treadmill desk – a jogging trampoline!” I intended to respond but life got in the way. My husband came down with a mystery infection and then had emergency surgery the first week in June. He came home after almost a week in the hospital and had to undergo six weeks of in-home IV treatment, with me playing nurse.

Things are sort of getting back to normal around here. Sort of.

Don hasn’t been back to his office, but he’s off the IV and now going to physical therapy about three times a week. In spite of his pain and fatigue he’s getting some work done (he is a real estate broker), but that means he’s moved into my home office and we are sharing a desk. I bought one of those little devices that hook up two computers to the same monitor and keyboard, so both of our desktop computers are on my roll top desk.

I don’t use my desktop computer much these days—and prior to Don getting sick, I used to put my laptop on the desk’s keyboard drawer when I wasn’t standing on the trampoline typing.

When Don came home from the hospital the trampoline got shoved aside. I’ve just recently set it up again, yet I’m not using it at the level I was before, for one thing Don and I are still sharing the office, and when I write I can’t do it with anyone in the room. This means I often retreat to the living room couch with my laptop, to find solitude necessary for me to write. Fortunately it is swimming weather, so the pool gives me a daily work out.

As for my writing, yesterday I sent my latest book off to the editor—Haunting Danielle. I normally write fiction under my pen name, Anna J. McIntyre and non-fiction under my real name. But Haunting Danielle is a little different from my other McIntyre books, so I was trying to decide if I wanted to publish under my real name—or the pen name I normally use for fiction.

I decided to publish the book under both names. Why? you ask. It will let my McIntyre readers know the book has a slightly different flavor from my other titles under that name, yet like the McIntyre books it is character driven.

One of my greatest marketing failings as an independent author is creating a series that doesn’t neatly fall under a specific genre. I did this with my McIntyre’s Coulson Series—and now I’ve done it again with Haunting Danielle. I’m trying to pin it down–a ghost story, paranormal mystery, with a splash of romance and maybe a bit on the cozy side. There’s no graphic sex in this one—and while many of my readers insist McIntyre romances are on the clean and sweet side, some reviewers claim there is too much graphic sex in my books. Go figure.

Haunting Danielle is the first book in a new series by the same name. Look for its eBook release on September 1, 2014.

Instead of a treadmill desk – a jogging trampoline!

TrampDSC04777My mother likes to remind me that sitting at a desk for hours on end, without getting up, can be as harmful to the body as smoking. Periodically, I  try to get up and move around, but I often get so engrossed in my writing that hours might slip by before I move from the computer.

A while back I purchased some Zumba Cds, thinking that might be the answer to my sedentary life.  I heard all sorts of success stories, and frankly, I need to lose some weight.

I soon discovered Zumba is not for me. I tried to pawn my pricy Cds off on our daughter, even offering to ship them up to Alaska, where she lives. She informed me she too had purchased the program, and like me, it wasn’t her thing. So, no thanks.

For the last few Christmases I’ve been asking for a jogging trampoline. My husband, being a practical guy, figured it would go the way of the Zumba, but he broke down and got one for me this year. And surprise, I really use the thing!

A few of my writer friends use treadmill desks, which allows them to walk and stand while on the computer. I don’t really have the space – or the funds – for such a desk, so I decided to use a makeshift compromise.

I’m now spending a good portion of my day – at least 4 or more hours – on my feet, on the jogging trampoline. Depending on what type of work I’m doing, sometimes I can even move around a bit.

I’ve been doing it for almost a week now, and when I started I weighed myself. Today I am four pounds lighter. I am not sure it will continue, but it does convince me to stay on my feet.

Do I feel invigorated? No. To be honest, I am rather tired and achy. Hopefully that will lessen as my body gets used to the extra movement. The only thing I need to do is figure out a way to get closer to my computer.