Multiple Personalities

Okay, I admit it--I have multiple personalities. Writing personalities, that is. It's not much of a confession. I'm pretty open about writing in different genres. Only recently has it become an issue, however. It requires me to shift gears for more than simple head hopping (switching from character to character). I have to stop and think about who my reader will be, and what their expectations are. I'm writing for characters of all ages and backgrounds while working on urban fantasy and middle grade, and even being a yoga teacher (planning a class is a lot like writing a script). It's easier said than done.
Here are the issues I'm currently running into:

•  I'm not present during conversations because all I can think about is how your dialogue might look if I wrote it down. How I might tweak it, punctuate it, and fix the grammar. Don't worry, I'm not really going to use it. Unless you say something interesting or off the wall, and then it's fair game.
•  I watch and listen to as many kids' conversations as I can. For the life of me, I cannot figure out the path their minds take. It's equally fascinating and frustrating. My 9 year old says the craziest things some times. She's currently fascinated with the...er..actions of our rooster with the hens. Out of the blue, she'll discuss the mechanics of it in a very matter of fact way, while I try to figure out if this is where I talk about bees, since she's already covering the birds.
•  I forget--and I mean completely forget--to cook dinner, at least 4 nights a week. I've started using my crock pot to circumvent this issue, because my poor kids have done "snacky dinner" too many times now. It quickly loses it's appeal. Who knew you could get sick of PB&J or a fridge free for all?
•  The employees at the bookstore I frequent think I'm nuts because I'll buy a few middle grade books, a few steamy romances, and one or two urban fantasy. I'm happy to admit they're all for me, but I can see why people would get confused. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda isn't great company for The Very Virile Viking.

*Note* I highly recommend both of these books. Origami Yoda is my new favorite character, and Sandra Hill, author of the viking series, is hilarious.

• Sometimes when I'm writing or reading about paranormal characters, I get the urge to put them through a few rounds of sun salutations. Only because it might relax them a bit. Seriously, Professor Snape wouldn't have been quite so testy if he'd had a little OM in his life.

What it boils down to is wearing a lot of hats, and remembering to keep them on straight. And only wearing one at a time. Which is prudent, but not always as much fun. *winks*

Does anyone else run into similar issues when writing or reading multiple genres?