Writing has become a lifestyle. I am constantly considering the next novel, the next scene, the next words. In fact, I have a list in my drawer labeled: Novels To Write Next, followed by mock titles and short blurbs to remind me what I wanted to write about.

I spend seventy percent of my time in a world of books, blank pages, and words. There is so much I want to write about -- things that I have basically no understanding of like: a romance between a army spy and a farm girl during the Revolutionary War, or a book about a boy and a girl trying to survive the Depression with a racehorse as their only hope, or a something about wolves, Alaska, the native peoples there, and the northern lights. And while I'm considering all of that, I'm writing my current novel.

Just last night as I was watching A River Runs Through It, I was considering starting a novel about a girl in the 40s, choosing between a rough and tough bad boy and the bashful, sweet boy next door. (Which reminds me I need to write that one down.)

And the funny things is, I'm not even ready to start a new book! But I wonder...is it like this for other authors? Do other writers walk around, half of their mind lost in their current project back home on the computer? Do they carry a notebook in case of a sudden spark of inspiration for the next sentence that could possibly alter the literary world? I wonder.