My Escape

The comment I get most often is that I always seem to be working. 2 am, 4 pm, 10 am, doesn't matter, it seems that no matter what time people contact me, I'm "always" working. Here's the thing. Most of you have regular jobs where you punch a time clock and once you put in your eight, you are free to leave. Writing isn't like that. You get hit by inspiration in the strangest places: on the subway, on the drive to work, in the drive through picking up lunch, while in the shower, in the middle of a tv show. For most of us, if we don't go write it down right then, we will lose that thought that seems so genius at the time. It's not that I'm always working, I am a slave to my passion. It controls me more than your 9 to 5 Monday to Friday job will ever control you and determine your life.

Writing isn't a job. You can't really fit it into a neat little cubicle and say ok, stay here. It's not neat. It's not orderly. It's not something you can really walk away from or compartmentalize. It's messy, it takes over your life, your love, your mind, your everything. And if it doesn't, I'm not sure that it's really for you. I talk to my characters all the time. They in turn talk to me. I write down what they say, then go over it and make sure it makes sense. In a sense, I'm the first line editor, not the writer. They are telling me their story, I just write it down and make sure it makes sense.

But I can't really say that it's not a labor of love. I really do LOVE what I do. It's my release, my therapy, my escape. As much as reading can be an escape for people who love to read, writing is an escape for a writer. I don't really know that anyone who isn't a write can ever understand that. But it's true. My writing and sharing it with you is my way of inviting you to join me in my escape. And I welcome you with open arms.