Sunday, October 17, 2004

Oh, my...a month and a half is too long between posts on this blog. I need to do better.

One of the questions I've been asked several times is, "Where do you find the time to write?" Since I still hold a full-time job and am raising a family, people who know me wonder how on earth I manage to squeeze in time to write five published works in a year (two novels, one novella, and two short stories). And I have another novella already in to my publisher.

Well, I need to tell you, it takes a very understanding family, that's for sure! My husband loves what I am doing and gives me the time I need. He doesn't complain when I hog the computer or when I'm mentally deep inside a story and not really attentive to life around me (he's getting used to having to tell me things more than once if he tries to talk to me when I'm writing!). And my kids are also helpful. They've become accustomed to standing at the door to the study and asking, "Is it okay if I come in?" before waltzing in to plop in the easy chair and talk. Since I love talking with them, I usually tell them, "give me a minute to finish this sentence..." Then I take a few seconds to finish the thought before turning back into "Mom."

I also find time in odd places. I have a laptop that goes everywhere with me. My daughter is a wonderful dancer; her studio is 20 minutes from the house. Rather than take her, drop her off and come home only to turn around fifteen minutes later and go back and get her, I stay out in the parking lot, writing. She dances for an hour and I get an hour of quiet time with no interruptions.

The same thing for my son's basketball practices. He shoots...I write. So three nights a week I have an hour or more of writing time.

And that's another reason it's been six weeks since my last entry. I've spent every moment on my next two stories...and little else. My apologies for leaving this weblog for so long. From now on I promise to be better!