The Spirit Is Willing...

So, I know I've blogged about this before, but it's something that seems to be a constant struggle for me lately. How do you find the time to write when life and the world seems to be out to get you?

As the holidays rush by and another year comes to a close I find that I'm only a little bit closer to my goal of being published. Yes, I have a couple of stories "finished" but nothing that is quite ready for submission... again. I actually have two finished: one that only has some minor edits left before I'm willing to resubmit it anywhere else and one that has been sitting and waiting patiently for me to get to the editing part of it. The one I'm working on has two of my characters stuck in foreplay for quite some time now. Not because I don't know what's going to happen but because I can't seem to find the time to just sit down and work on it.

This last year has been a rather... interesting, and sometimes difficult year. We had two deaths in our family and a very close call. For the past little bit I have been struggling with unknown health issues that are only barely being managed instead of fixed. These events left us all shaken, and left me a bit behind on everything, not just my writing.

As I slowly dig my way out of the pile of emails, laundry and other various household chores that got put on hold I find that I'm longing for the time to be able to write. I've missed putting up my Saturday Hotties more than I've remembered to do them and most Tuesdays I simply can't be bothered to post a new blog entry. I feel guilty when I sit down with my laptop and see that I have laundry that needs to be folded and dishes that need washing and a house that is basically a hamster nest (my oldest boy compulsively shreds paper... but that's another story). The only time I might possibly have to write is taken up with other chores that need doing.

Now, all of these things don't stop the voices in my head from screaming for their stories. I get new ideas all the time and certain plot aspects seem to come when I need to be doing something else. I really really really want to get the stories told and make room for the new ones I just know are there waiting for me. It used to be so much easier to just sit down, set my timer and write until my hands ached... but no more.

So, my question is, how do you deal with writing when you can't even seem to find the time to sit down and do more than stare at a computer screen? How do you schedule your life in order to make time to write? Hey, do you think I can ask Santa for more time to write?