I have a tendency to overthink things, and unfortunately I cannot seem to find the dimmer switch for it.  God forbid I wake up in the middle of the night and my mind decides to kick into gear. I will not sleep again that night.

Lately I haven’t been sleeping well, and yes, it’s because my mind is in high gear. This can be a good thing (if I’m plotting out a book or visualizing a scene) or a bad thing (if I’m stressing about everything else in my life). This latest round of not sleeping is a bad thing, mixed with a bit of good.

You see, I have a book due September 1 – my first book written as Emma Lang, my new pen name for Kensington Brava beginning June 2010. I want this book to wow readers so they’ll come hungry for more. There’s one stress, a big one. And well, you see, I am behind on actually writing the book and have three weeks to finish it (that’d be 250 pages, or about 60K).

Now you’re following along with me and my demon-like stresses, right? It gets even a bit worse, unfortunately. A friend of mine (who was younger than me by a few months) lost her battle with cancer last Saturday. Losing someone, even if it’s expected, throws you for a loop, then kicks you.

I’m distracted and having a hard time focusing. That’s the biggest bad of all.

Now for the good. When I’m writing, it’s flowing well. The characters are making me laugh and cry and get angry, just as they’re supposed to.  I need to write their story and it’s also on my mind pretty much constantly. I would pay serious money to find the damn dimmer switch on my mind. LOL.

So here’s my question to y’all, what’s your favorite method to focus? I need some ideas y’all so I can compartmentalize everything and get the book written.

Help!