One of my greatest challenges with writing is juggling time periods. I wake up in 2016, turn the lights on with a flip of a switch, make breakfast with electric appliances, and read my Bible on a Kindle. Then I call my writing partner on a cell phone to discuss the books we're working on. One is set in 1885, one in 1918, and another somewhere between 1908 and 1910 depending on when a specific historic event occurred.
When we're done talking, I pound the keyboard of my laptop as I bury myself in the 1918 story. What would cooking look like? How would a hat be worn? Who and what was making headlines? And, most important of all, is the issue I'm exploring historically accurate, or am I projecting a modern mindset onto a historical backdrop?
I take a break for lunch, usually something reheated in a microwave which I'm old enough to remember being a new invention. I finish eating, load the diswasher, and head back to 1918.
Are you dizzy yet?
Dings from my cellphone alert me to text messages or emails. I try to ignore them, but sometimes I can't because I'm expecting a message. Once I'm on my cell phone, it's easy to do a quick check of Facebook. Ten minutes later, I have to pull myself away and get back to 1918...after I use my bathroom with indoor plumbing and liquid soap.
When I close my 1918 story for the day, it's time to promote the Christmas story set in 1962 or the one coming in March set in 1850 or pin pictures from all three of my "current" stories to Pinterest boards.
If you aren't dizzy, I am.