I get to live in a fantasy world every day. And it’s not someone else’s fantasy world, which they created, it’s my own. I get to decide what happens, what’s possible, and where and when it is. Presidential politics? Yeah, I’m keeping up with the such stuff, but my world is so much more fun!
I get to do what I love—write! I’ve discovered that if I don’t write for a few days, I begin to get very antsy and cranky. I need to write. I need to have that outlet, that creativity. I need to sit in a quiet room with just me and my keyboard or pen and paper and get out my thoughts and ideas.
I get paid for doing what I love. It’s not a lot. I couldn’t live off of what I’m paid, but that’s okay. I get some fun money, and even a little to set aside to help my kids pay for graduate school. But what could be better than doing what you love and having someone pay you to do it?
I love watching other people’s faces when I tell them what I do. My husband is an economist at a large international organization, so every so often I get to meet and chat with the incredibly intelligent people who have dedicated their lives to relieving the world’s poverty. They invariably ask me what I do and I proudly say that I write romance novels. It’s such a novelty for them, they’re fascinated by my work. It so much fun!
I get to read romance novels and call it “working”. What could be better than that?
I’ve been writing and teaching writing for long enough that people think I know what I’m doing. J They actually ask me for my opinion on their writing and respect what I tell them. I love that! I love helping other people improve their writing, if I can.
Along the same lines, I love mentoring new self-publishers. Having been doing this job for a while now, I have a pretty good grasp of how to do it and I love sharing my knowledge with anyone who wants to hear it.
I’m flexible. My job is flexible. My time is flexible. Because I work for myself, I get to choose what I do, and when and where I do it. I was able to stay at home with my children as they were growing up and be there for them when they needed me. Now that they’ve moved on to their own lives (one as a real, independent, employed person, the other still in college), I can go where I want (travelling with my husband on his trips abroad for his work), whenever I want and not miss a day of work (except if I want to, you know, go sight-seeing!). The only down-side of this is that my boss is really cruel to me! She keeps me working every single day, even if I want to go sight-seeing, she still insists that take some time to write every single day! (Sigh… a conscience is a terrible thing to have sometimes.)
I can travel and call it “work”. In the next few years, my husband and I are planning on doing a bit more traveling around Europe. Each of those trips, I can claim is a business trip for me—assuming I can work some of what I see and learn on the trip into a book or two.
I get to hang-out and chat with interesting people like you! You, who read my blog, and/or say ‘hi’ to me on Facebook, are who I write for. Without you I would have no reason to be here or to write my stories and live in my fantasy world. So, I thank you for being here, for commenting on my FB posts, and for giving me an excuse to do all of these terrific things.

Thank you!!