Chapter 13 - A Lifetime of Writing

I used to have a little hardbound journal when I was in about second or third grade.  I’d write little stories but mostly about stuff going on in my life.  In fifth grade I wrote an autobiography.  It was short. : )

Since then I’ve written a lot more.  You remember school and all the writing?  The essays?  The forced short stories?  I went to college and made a lot of stuff up.  I was pretty good at writing around a subject.  I became a teacher and wrote lesson plans.  And report card comments.  Those are fun.  How many different ways can you tell someone their kid’s a genius?  Or not living up to their potential?  Or crazy?  I’m most famous for my to-do lists.  I have at least six going at all times.  I will add something I’ve already done to the list to make myself feel better.  

For a long time I tried to write "a novel."  I have lots of half-finished manuscripts scattered on hard drives throughout my house, but it wasn't until The Clay Lion that I was finally able to complete an entire full-length manuscript.

These days I spend a lot of time answering interview questions, writing marketing blurbs, and occasionally, when I have the time, I work on writing another actual manuscript. ;)