Since I
was little and realized that there were real people who wrote the books I
considered my very best friends, I had a mental image of what the writer’s life
was like. It involved a lot of reading, reclining, and of course writing—all
while dressed in flowing white dresses. I’m not sure where that image came
from, maybe I read too much Anne of Green Gables as a child (though really, can
you have too much Anne?) Regardless, my writing life is nothing like that. So,
what is my writing life?
I’m a
stay-at-home, homeschooling mom. So really, that’s much more my life for the
bulk of the day. I’m usually up by 6:30 or 7 when the younger of my sons starts
calling out “All done!” from his crib. Mornings are our play time, chore time,
errand time, and various group time (swimming lessons, Bible study, co-op,
etc.) I try to get a quick post up on my Facebook author page and maybe
schedule a few tweets in the midst of all that, but that’s really it for
“writing” until after lunch.
Once lunch
is handled and the baby’s in bed, it’s school time for my older son. Right now he’s
in the first grade, so school doesn’t take all that long, leaving us with some
quiet time while the baby finishes his nap. Usually my older boy will read or
play and I’ll hop on my computer and write. Because I know the time is limited,
I don’t always work on my work-in-progress in the afternoon (unless I’m nearing
a deadline). Sometimes I’ll use that time for blog posts or scheduling
interviews, doing email, that sort of thing. But if I’m in a groove with my
WIP, then I’ll fire it up. It all depends.
When
naptime is over, then it’s back to family mode. More playing and chores and
what-have-you until after the kids are in bed. Then, usually, I’ll write while
my husband plays Xbox or we watch TV (I can do some things while the TV’s
going, not always.) We do have at-home date nights two or three nights a week
after the kids are in bed and those nights I don’t write and he doesn’t Xbox
(that’d be a pretty lame date, wouldn’t it?)
If I just
killed your vision of a writer’s life, I apologize. It was a startling
revelation to me, too. And as I’ve met more authors, it turns out the folks who
get to write for 8 hours a day are few and far between. The majority of us (or
at least the majority of the ones I’ve run into) are all pretty much just looking
for thirty minutes here and there throughout the day to take the stories in our
head and get them down on paper. I know for myself, I wouldn’t trade it for the
world.
Elizabeth Maddrey began
writing stories as soon as she could form the letters properly and has never
looked back. Though her practical nature and love of math and organization
steered her into computer science for college and graduate school, she has
always had one or more stories in progress to occupy her free time. When she
isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books and has mastered the
art of reading while undertaking just about any other activity. She loves to
write about Christians who struggle through their lives, dealing with sin and
receiving God’s grace.
Elizabeth
lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. with her husband and their two
incredibly active little boys. She invites you to interact with her at her
website www.ElizabethMaddrey.com or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey
Social
Media:
Twitter:
@elizabethmaddre
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+ElizabethMaddrey/posts
Don't forget to stop by tomorrow, when you can enter to win a free copy of Elizabeth's latest title, Faith Departed!
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