Monday, July 14, 2014

A Day in the Life of an Author


Being an author might seem glamorous looking from the outside in, but believe me it's not all wonderful days of typing away on your keyboard.  There are days and nights when I'd like to tell the Muse to just shut up and let me relax, of course he rarely listens.  I can be sitting at a BBQ with the family and an idea will hit me so suddenly, that I have to pick up the first available pen and scribble down notes.  I've gotten the eyes rolled at me several times when this notion hits. Or when I can't stop talking about my characters like they are my best friends.

In ways they are my best friends, because while I'm writing them, I delve into their innermost secrets and try to bring them to life for readers.  And television shows or movies?  Most people hate to watch them with me because I will tear apart a plot and explain what they should have done differently!  It's like dueling with your imaginary friends all the time, balancing them out against the reality you're living.

On a positive note, writing keeps my mind young.  Often my characters are just beginning their adult lives, so I never age.  That little tidbit can get me in trouble at times too, because I have to force myself to remember I'm an experienced adult, not to mention a wife and mother!  Very few days go by when I'm not pulled out of fantasy land and forced to deal with the very real life I lead.  Jumping from romance in a scene you're writing to kids screaming that there's not enough junk food in the cabinet can be a bit of a challenge.

I've had friends ask me how I have all these sexy male friends (I post pictures online of what I see my characters looking like) and still be faithful in my marriage.  That still makes me giggle, because I don't know these people, but the fact that people think I do? Yeah that tickles my funny bone.  So to set the record straight there are no half-naked men sitting around feeding me grapes while I relax on a chaise being fanned. The reality is more like I've got kids dumping soda on the floor and screaming that I need to get it up before their socks get dirty!

My world of fantasy is no different than the world I hope I help readers escape too.  I just get to write it out before they read.  You might find it comical the things going on around me as I write, because most people would go insane.  I might be writing gorgeous, sexy hunk, but what I'm hearing around me is a television blaring to loud, video games that my kids are fighting over, or one of them asking when they can have their turn at the computer.  Did I say asking?  What I meant was mom would you get off the computer now, I have a game to play!

On the flip side, I've been blessed beyond belief.  In 2009 when I penned my first novel, I had no idea anyone would actually read what I wrote.  Laid off from my job in respiratory, I was concerned about how I was going to help support our family even though my husband makes a decent wage.  When my books started selling, and believe me that took a few years, I was simply amazed.  Now in 2014 I actually make a living from book sales, and that blows my mind.

I think everyone, outside of my mother, thought that writing was just a pipe dream that I'd give up after failing miserably.  My mom had stuck with me through a singing career prior to respiratory, so she always believed I could do whatever I wanted.  Instead of my husband asking when I'm going to pull my head out of the clouds these days, he's asking when he can retire.  It's been one heck of a beautiful ride!

So that's in a nutshell, a day in my life as an author.  Sometimes I ask myself how I manage to write in all the chaos, but then I really think about it and I couldn't do it any other way.  Silence really makes me nuts and I need all the insanity going on around me to really fulfill my artistic vision.  Of course if any guys don't mind beating my husband off and dealing with all the screaming kids, feel free to come bring the fig leaves to fan me as I write!

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