One of the #1 questions I get in regards to my writing is “When do you have time?”.

Well, first of all…I kind of have a doer type of personality. I like to stay busy, and whether I like it or not, my brain is always thinking up ideas, concepts, etc., etc., etc. So writing is actually a great outlet for me because there’s always something to write, create, revise and so on.

Next, I’ve been doing this for a while. It all started when I took a children’s writing class about 10 years ago with one of those community education program. Since then, I’ve written dozens of stories, so it’s really become part of my regular to-do list.

I’m pretty creative when it comes to how I find my writing time. While I don’t usually write until evening (and after my kids go to bed), I’ve learned that life sometimes gets in the way. The photo of me here is of me working on a story holding my sleeping peanut when she was just a few weeks old.

I also do a lot of what I call “mind writing.” When I sit down to write, I can usually hammer it out pretty good because I’ve been thinking about the story or concept in the car, in the shower, in bed, while making dinner, etc.

Of course, I should probably all say that I’m not Super Woman. As any busy person can attest, sometimes you just have to say no. Do I have the cleanest house in the world? No. Do I make gourmet meals every night? Of course…not.

Above all, though…writing is now part of who I am. It’s a hobby that I love, and I make the time. While it can be really isolating, hard, frustrating and thankless at times, I love creating something from start to finish. I know I’ll never make big bucks off of writing, but I feel very blessed that I’ve had a tiny bit of success at something I love. Mind you, I’ve had hundreds (yes, hundreds) of rejections along the way, too. But that’s another post for another time.

Kids working on the tennis racket garden art project at the book party.

The big involved book party came. The big involved book party went.

Ummm…now what am I supposed to do? After consulting the author kit I got from my publisher, I’m a little overwhelmed. I need to be scheduling events, pimping out my book to everyone I know and organizing a virtual book tour. Yes, virtual book tour…apparently that’s all the rage these days. You’re supposed to line up several blogs to feature and review your book, and have them schedule the posts over several days or weeks. I had no idea what it was, but I’m intrigued.

So wish me luck as I embark on this endeavor. I shall be looking for botanical gardens, bookstores and other places to visit this spring. The requirements are that it’s cheap for me to get there, I can get people to attend and they’ll carry my book after the event. Let the weekend filling for 2012 begin.

Tina, Ashley, myself and Amber at the book party.

If you would’ve asked me a week ago, I would’ve said that all surprises are bad ideas. Steve and my mom snuck in a surprise for me years ago when she flew to Milwaukee for a quick visit…I think it’s sufficient to say they learned their lesson.

I don’t know why I hate surprises so much, but I do. So last Friday when my mom showed up unexpectedly with Tina at the airport, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. Then later that night when I walked into the local Mexican restaurant for dinner, I was shocked to see Tina’s parents. Then we go into the bathroom, and I find my other two best friends, Amber and Ashley, peeking over the door of the stall, singing a song from The Brady Bunch movie.

Once I got over the annoyance of not having every little detail planned, I was blissfully happy. My book party never would have happened if it weren’t for my wonderful mother, completing all the details and helping with thekids  project. And it wouldn’t have been seamless without the help from all of those girls. So even though I hate to admit it, I guess there can be some good surprises after all.