No, Shirley Isn't a Clone

Ms Creativity posted a comment asking me how I keep up with it all and if I have any spare stamina.

LOL on the second one. I'm nearing 40 now and I think Stamina is deserting me. Or at least my memory is. :-)They might even be running off, hand-in-hand, like the dish and the spoon.

Basically, the way I write a boatload of books every year is the same way I wrote a boatload of articles. The same way I used to be a teacher, and the same way I worked the Home Soft department at Filene's even though I didn't know diddly about sheets and towels.

I just did.

This is, after all, my full-time job now (I severed my last tie to a regular paying freelance job two weeks ago) and that means I better make some money and go to work every day. Just like any other job, except I happen to love what I do and would do it for free if I had to (don't tell my editors or my agent :-)).

I happen to be fast, in about everything in life. I talk too fast, I used to drive too fast (until I had little ones on board) and I make decisions fast. I don't eat chocolate fast, but I will devour the silly chicken just to get to dessert faster. :-) I want to be able to have that time at the end of the day to curl up with my kids, watch "Lost" and debate whether Michael was justified in shooting Ana Lucia or not. I want to have the time to go to the track meets and the band concerts (okay, maybe not so much those. My kid is in Advanced Band now, but that hasn't saved me from suffering through those Beginning Band kids -- bless their little off-key hearts-- whenever there's a concert) and go out to dinner with my husband.

So, I work hard during the day, try not to whine about it too much and basically do my job.

Is my career path right for you? Is my work schedule right for you? No, not at all. What works for you is what works for you. Plain and simple.

In the writing vein, the current book is turning out to be loads of fun to write. It's the second book to a linked twin series that comes out next spring. After that, I get to write a single title (I'm working on that one here and there because I am literally straining at the leash to get to that one), which will also be out next year, late in the year, I think.

Anyway, I'm not a clone, despite rumors to the contrary ;-) but could use one on some days, LOL.

Shirley
PS: I just found out THE DATING GAME and THE ANGEL CRAVED LOBSTER are both finalists in the Madcap Awards!