One of the main points of my BLOG is to illustrate the ups and downs of working as an inflight crew member while simultaneously working as a writer. Sometimes, I also enjoy writing about life, the things that I am exposed to, and the things that make me happy. But this BLOG I am going to focus of that original plan.
Life has taught me to be organized. Almost to the point of being compulsive about it. The reason is that I have A.D.D. and when my life, and the things in it, are chaotic, I struggle. I lose focus, I forget important things, I lose important objects…I get anxious and depressed. Therefore, having learned to keep my life organized, I can function with my A.D.D. My home stays put together, my bed is made every day, dishes stay cleaned, laundry is done often, and my car is uncluttered. My work schedule stays as clear and concise as it can be working for a major airline.
As much as I try to be on task with my day-to-day, there are times when life throws a big ole wrench into the entire thing. Recently, I moved back home to North Carolina from Colorado. The move was costly and stressful. I had to stay with a friend for several months until I could locate a home. My son was experiencing a cut in his hours at work and needed to move in with me. So, I needed to find a home big enough for the two of us, his giant German Shepherd, and a home office for my writing.
We found a little place with plenty of bedrooms and a nice neighborhood. And that was the last of the good news on that front. This little rental house has been nothing but a pain in the rear since we moved in. THAT is a BLOG in of itself…moving on.
Since relocating back to Charlotte, I have experienced a few health concerns. Nothing serious, of course, but enough to throw me off track. Brochities, COVID, and an ugly little bout with Asthma, which I haven’t had in almost 30 years! Two of these three are due to moving from a very dry environment to a humid, hay fever enriched, environment. My body struggled to adjust.
Next, I have changed my flying from multiple hops across the U.S. in a day to long transatlantic flights. As such, for the purpose of paying bills, I have had to learn to manage my schedule differently than I did when I was flying strictly domestic. The pay is different, not worse or better, just different. I had to learn how to maintain the correct amount of hours. Additionally, I seem to be gone a bit more now, than I was while flying across the U.S. out of Denver.
All of this, while Book 4, The Alchemist’s Secret Journal, was being finished. It is currently with my content editor for it last read through before it’s ready to submit to my publisher, when they are ready for it.
Fast forward to last week, when I was having a conversation with my writing coach. My publisher offers a writing coach to those of us who have never published before, sort of helps us through the process. While on that call, Ashley, my coach, asked me about my edits for Book 2. I thought… book 2? I haven’t gotten any request for edits for that book yet. She said, well according to the GoogleDoc you’ve started on them, but never got past chapter 3. I was just making sure everything was alright. Okay, I thought my head was going to explode. I quite simply, didn’t remember getting those edits. Obviously I did, because my login had made comments and replies to suggestions. I was in freak out mode, major. Ashley calmed me down the best she could and resent the document because I was not in the state of mind to scramble to locate it in my search engine.
And there it was…the CLASH between work stress, personal stress, and maintaining my writing. Life had thrown me several curve balls and I was struggling to juggle them all. I got lost. Once I got off the conference call, I placed my hands over my face and teared up. For about ten minutes, I let all that frustration just roll. Then sat up, wiped my cheeks, and adjusted my crown. Well, it was actually my little ponytail-updo, but I’ll call it a crown. I immediately cleared the small amount of clutter from my desk, opened the document Ashley sent to me, took a deep breath, and got to work. My revisions were done in about 3 days.
In the last several months I have only been “home” perhaps 5-7 days total each month. My layovers are no longer 30 hours in Albuquerque, NM or Bozeman, MT. Where I have lots of free time to sit and write or edit. Now it’s, 24 hours in Paris, London, or Rome…and as fabulous as that sounds, much of that time is spent catching up on sleep because both legs are red-eye flights. I do, however, enjoy finding a couple of hours at a nice little café somewhere and working when I can. Especially when it’s someplace I have been before. My earlier trip to South Africa, however, I made sure to see as much of the city as I could. I wanted to experience the culture and people! So, no writing on that trip.
I have to be constantly vigilant of my time management and organization. If I don’t, I will find myself behind, or negligent in my job as a writer and as a flight attendant. Not to mention my most important job…Mom.
Donna Fera
AuthorDonna Fera‘s writing invites readers to explore unknown worlds alongside courageous heroes as they face thrilling challenges and uncover hidden secrets. With a Bachelor of Arts in History and Anthropology from University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Donna is able to take her readers on amazing journeys that draw upon her background in research and learning practices. Combined with her experience in the airline industry and special projects, Donna creates stories that captivate readers with their combination of organizational detail and customer service resolution. Join Donna on this remarkable journey!
