How I Stopped Worrying & Learned To Love Missing Deadlines

A Literal Literary Loser Lies

On July 31, I wrote about Why I Can't Finish My Book (And It's Not My Fault!).

TL;DR: I had committed to turning in my manuscript, Super Soap Scenes: A Time Capsule of Daytime Drama’s Greatest Moments, to publisher BearManor Media on August 1. I started reaching out to show publicists in May. Some got back to me. Some didn’t.

I have a bit of an obsession with getting things done on time. Call it an overdeveloped sense of responsibility, call it childhood trauma, call it adult onset something or other. If I say I will be somewhere at a certain time, I am somewhere at a certain time. If I promise to do something, I do something. And if I sign a contract with a due date, I meet that due date.

So I was all set to turn in Super Soap Scenes: A Time Capsule of Daytime Drama’s Greatest Moments on August 1st. It would have 33 entries, covering 25 shows. 33 sounded like a fun number, even though it wasn’t a round one.

And then, the afternoon of July 31, I heard back from the publicist for The Young and the Restless. Would I like to speak to Jess Walton?

Would I like to speak to Jess Walton? Two-time Daytime Emmy winner Jess Walton who’s played Jill on and off on Y&R since 1987 (and also had a stint on Capitol before that)? Of course, I would like to speak to Jess Walton! I would love to speak to Jess Walton!

My plan was to speak to Jess, transcribe her interview, and write it up in time to include in the book and still get it in by end of day of August 1. (End of day on August 1 is still August 1!)

But then, after I finished my interview with Jess — who was absolutely fantastic and spoke at length about the scene where Jill and Katherine (Jeanne Cooper) got into a fight in the Chancellor attic, complete with rodent guest-star — the Y&R publicist asked if I would like to speak to Peter Bergman?

Would I like to speak to Peter Bergman? Three-time Daytime Emmy winner Peter Bergman, who’s played Jack on Y&R since 1989 (and also had a stint on All My Children before that)? Of course, I would like to speak to Peter Bergman! I would love to speak to Peter Bergman!

OK, then, that would have to happen the following week. Late in the following week. Would that be OK?

Late in the following week would be past my August 1 deadline.

What did that mean for my overdeveloped sense of responsibility, my childhood trauma, and/or my adult onset something or other?

Screw it, that’s what it meant.

I contacted the publisher and asked for an extension. I have never previously asked for an extension in my life. Not even when I committed to writing my NYT best-seller, Oakdale Confidential, in six weeks while also completing Skate Crime, the final book in my Figure Skating Mystery series, AND being pregnant with my daughter. The show must go on, and all that.

The BearManor publisher was chill about my request. All he asked is that it didn’t take an extra 10 years. I assured him it wouldn’t even take an extra 10 days.

I was wrong about that. It ended up taking an extra 14 days (technically 10 business days, so…) Peter Bergman was fabulous. He talked about Jack’s classic scene of throwing his chair out of Jabot’s office window, as well as his relationship with co-star Eric Braeden (Victor), their rough early days and why he now accepted some of the blame for it. He was charming, he was forthright, and he was generous with his time.

I wanted to do his interview justice, so I took my time with making it perfect.

Submitting a manuscript two weeks after the agreed upon deadline is a new experience for me. But Jess Walton and Peter Bergman are definitely worth it.

Was it nerve-wracking? Absolutely!

Was it traumatic? Yuppers!

Did I stop worrying and learn to love missing deadlines? No, not really. That’s where the subheading of a lie comes in.

Did I do the right thing?

You tell me!