Gael Fell in a Hole or Who Wants Hot (Wheels) Pockets?

Memory Lane ~ July 03/25

Today, we’re not talking about writing because, frankly, I haven’t been. Not for lack of wanting, but due to my other, more important job tipping the scales of work-life balance: being a mom. Birthday parties need planning, family visits mean no cloistering allowed, vacations need planning for the cat-sitter, and the stupid cats escaping the apartment and bringing back fleas mean that the previous planning gets tossed out the window anyway. As much as I want to focus on my writing and nurture my identity as an author, the fact is that I am currently in a season of life where I have a designated pocket for Hot Wheels. It used to be for my phone, but no. That is the Hot Wheels pocket.

This means I’ve been lurking on socials while feeling paralyzed from posting anything. I want to post. I have an amazing cover for Rotten Devil that I want to show you. I have marketing quotes that I want to use for promoting. But all those require a concentrated marketing plan. I can’t just show you the cover; I need to do a reveal. I can’t just show some quotes; I need flat lays and graphics to spread out over a series of months to build buzz. Even this blog post means I’m going to spend some time reformatting this in Canva for cross-posting. And I’m vacuuming after work to try to deal with the fleas and absently putting another stray Hot Wheel into the Hot Wheels pocket.

It’s getting better, don’t get me wrong. After all, here I am, getting some downtime at the library so I can write a blog for the first time since May and actually work on my rewriting (I was supposed to be finished by the end of June, and I am currently only on Chapter 4). It’s just going to take some time to figure out how to strike the balance between being an author and being a mom.

This morning, as I prepared to leave for work, I slung on my laptop bag with the plan of going to the library afterwards. Then it struck me: my pockets were empty. I was going to work before my son woke up, to go to the library while he was at daycare, and I wouldn’t see him until his 4 pm pickup time.

And even as I tried to stay in my author brain, my mom brain was deeply sad. So, I did the logical thing: I snuck into my son’s room at 5 am and grabbed a couple of Hot Wheels to put in the Hot Wheels pocket. Maybe that’s what balance is about.

Until next time, travellers,

Gael Romer