TCO is very excited to have our first Featured Author on the Official GRL Blog Tour. Thank you so much to Nicole Dennis for joining us today! Can’t wait to see you in October. 🙂
Balancing Reality with Fantasy
On the Road to GRL 2016
Nicole Dennis
Hello, I’m Nicole Dennis and thank you to Two Chicks Obsessed for being one of the wonderful Feature Bloggers for GRL 2016. This is my 4th GRL and for the first time, I’m a Featured Author. I get to enjoy a few more responsibilities in between the fun parts of the conference. It kind of reminds me of being stuck at the day job when all I wish to do is stay in the fantasy world of writing.
Like many authors, I have to figure out how to balance working a full-time job at a small CPA firm and going home to another full-time job as a writer. Unlike most corporate America, the firm is very low-key, on the quiet side when we’re not in the crazy main tax season from January to April, and quiet. My little corner is in the far back of the office, stuck amongst boxes of files, processing area and the kitchen. I’m able to keep my netbook on one side of the desk, iTunes playing on the latest mix I selected, and a Scrivener window up with the latest WIP.
Throughout the crazier parts of tax season, it’s very rare for me to do anything but process tax returns. I’m so tired and brain-dead by the end of the day, I go home and veg. Sometimes I’m able to get some writing done, but most of the times my creative side is hidden under exhaustion and stress. The balancing act is tipped strong on the reality side.
After tax season, the balancing act shifts back to fantasy. With the work finished, often spread out throughout the work day, I’m able to concentrate on whatever WIP is calling my attention. My bosses don’t mind as long as I pay attention to whatever work they drop in front of me. Most of them are truly intrigued at my writing since they’re all entrenched deep in the linear, analytical side of their left brains. While I prefer to stay on the creative right side – yeah, did I mention I have a tendency to flip numbers around in columns and never see the mistake? A tad issue when you work for CPAs.
When I get home during after tax season, my stress-level is less, never gone completely, but the desire to create rides higher. With only Fat Cat keeping me company, I’m able to indulge and spend many hours on my laptop, lost in a story. Yeah, I admit to letting the dishes and laundry pile up while I tap away on the keyboard. Fat Cat don’t mind as long as her precious kibble drops from her feeder, her water tower remains full, and her automatic CatGenie litter box remains clean for her next visit. Simple kitteh needs. It is here that I’m the happiest.
I’ve known for a while I don’t belong in corporate America. I have a strong introvert nature with additions of a hyper-sensitive nature, depression and social anxiety. Yeah, it’s an insane mix of problems I’m constantly juggling to keep getting up and going every single day. Ideally, I would love to become a full-time author and be able to hide in my writing cave with Fat Cat to keep me company. Until my writing consistently covers the price of everyday living, I know the dream will have to remain just that.
So, the balancing act continues.
My latest release is Whatever It Takes with MLR Press.
Amazon
MLR Press
ARe
At a crossroads in life, one man will do whatever he must to rekindle the spark.
It takes an eye-opening talk for Riley Gordan to realize there’s something wrong in his twelve-year relationship with Conor Flemming. He creates extravagant events for same-sex proposals and weddings to over-the-top holiday parties, but he never considered one for Conor and him. Busier than ever, he realized his time with Conor had shrunk. He decides to use his event planning skills and put them to work to rekindle the spark.
Conor Flemming creates extraordinary cakes for anything from a cancer survivor’s celebration of life to a same-sex wedding, but never one for himself. When it comes to his life with Riley, he knows it’s failing, but not sure where it all went wrong. The silence hurts and worries him. Until a flurry of text messages changes the situation.
A quiet one, Nicole Dennis curled up with the latest book of a favorite author. Since the beginning, there were these characters in her head, worlds wanting to be built on paper, and stories wanting to be told. She began writing during class and continues to this day. Now she can let others into her imagination and worlds that always celebrate the love between two or more people within LGBT, paranormal, and fantasy.
During the day, she works in a quiet office in Central Florida, where she also makes her home, and enjoys the down time to slip into her imagination. She is owned by a semi-demonic tortie calico, affectionately known as Fat Cat.
Contact & Media Info:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NicoleDennis.Author
Blog: http://nicoledennisauthor.blogspot.com
Website: http://nicoledennisauthor.com
Email: nicoledennis.author@gmail.com
GoodreadsQ&A with Nicole Dennis: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/50397-q-a-with-nicole-dennis
Goodreads Profile: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2791975.Nicole_Dennis