Guest Post by Julie Metz, author of "Perfection" and Giveaway

Please join me in welcoming Julie Metz, author of Perfection (my review) to The Book Chick today. Today she shares what it's like to balance being a parent and being an author.

"Writing and mothering are a tough fit.

But if you are determined enough to overcome the obstacles of never having enough sleep and never having enough hours in the day, you’ll make time to write, while doing laundry, shopping for food, supervising homework...

The best advice I received early on was to sit for twenty minutes a day. See what happens. There will be days when you have to force yourself not to pop up to make soup or put clothes in the dryer, anything to avoid the task at hand…but if you stick with it, it will become a habit and before you know it the pages will be piling up.

On the up side, as a mom, you’ll never lack for material, the best kind, the stuff you can’t make up, the details and richness of everyday life. What you cannot gather up from your own life and reconfigure for your story, you’ll find at the playground, at your friends’ houses, at the supermarket.

On the down side, you’ll think twice and three or four and ten times about using it. You’ll worry about offending neighbors, your mom and dad, your aunts, uncles, and especially you’ll worry about embarrassing your kids. For whom you are already an embarrassment (so who wants to make thing worse than they already are?).

On the up side, once you have written your story, you’ll might be surprised to find fans among many of those very people you worried about offending. People don’t always consciously appreciate the truth, but they do always appreciate a good story, well told."

Thank-you to Julie for stopping by today! Courtesy of BookSparks PR I have one copy of Julie Metz's Perfection to give away. To enter:
 
1. *Mandatory Entry* Leave me a comment and let me know that you would like to win this book. Please include your e-mail address or a way for me to contact you in your comment. No e-mail= no entry.
 
2. *Bonus Entry* Become a follower of this blog through Google Friend Connect and let me know in a separate comment that you are now a follower. Already a follower? Let me know in a separate comment that you are.
 
3. *Bonus Entry* Spread the word about this contest in some way. Facebook it, blog about it, add it to your sidebar, or Tweet about it. Whatever you choose to do, make sure that you leave me a separate comment to let me know what you did.
 
This contest runs until November 22, 2010 at midnight and is open to US and Canadian mailing addresses. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have 48 hours to respond. Good luck!