[alison]

Raaaaad, maaaaate.... honest, it depends on the fantasy author - let's face it, a sheep in lacey panties beats Marat Safin any day.

(Did I just say that? Ohmigod, I did)

More so than, say, watching fantasy authors playing ping-pong in their knickers?

[Tari]

Raaaaad, maaaaate.... honest, it depends on the fantasy author - let's face it, a sheep in lacey panties beats Marat Safin any day.

(Did I just say that? Ohmigod, I did)

Yes Alison you just said that. Tis okay.

[Radthorne]

Raaaaad, maaaaate.... honest, it depends on the fantasy author - let's face it, a sheep in lacey panties beats Marat Safin any day.

(Did I just say that? Ohmigod, I did)
Oh, the imagery! A sheep in lacey panties...

Hee, hee! Or, to bat one back over the net at Sheepie, "snigger, snigger."

For that, my dearest Alison, I shall buy you an entire case of that Icelandic brew that so devilishly - I mean, elvishly made off with your memory.

Now, if we can only persuade the True Sheep to speak to you again... :D

[glendalarke]

I reckon I have the ideal: I freelance as a field ornithologist. When I work at that, it's 7 days a week, no time for writing (or not until it's time for the report). But these jobs only come up every so often. Plenty of time in between to work seven days a week writing!

Obsessive? You bet. Most writers who aren't obsessive, at least to start with, don't get published.

[alison]

Glenda, that does sound like a good balance, and the right kind of job, too. I think jobs that involve writing - I used to be a journalist, for example - are pretty terrible if you want to write. On the other hand, I find motherhood no problem at all: a healthy balance, forcing me into dialogue with recalcitrant worlds.

[glendalarke]

Hmmm...I don't seem to have got the hang of this yet. I managed to post that on the wrong thread.

Recalcitrant worlds, Alison? That has got to be the best description of kids I've ever heard. Especially appropriate for teenagers...lol

[Gary Wassner]

I work full time as well in a profession that has as little to do with writing as anything probably could. I also raised three sons along with my wife who have all been endless sources of experience for my writing. I truly think that if I were confined to a desk and a computer all day long, with the sole purpose of creating looming over me all that time, I would die. I would die not only because I believe that forced creative time is a contradiction in terms, but because I just get too serious when I write and I fear that I would find myself spinning into those dark places that I don't always want to go.

[alison]

Hi Glenda! My teenage children are recalcitrantly themselves, and always have been. Love them to pieces, of course; my life is more fun for all their noise.

I truly think that if I were confined to a desk and a computer all day long, with the sole purpose of creating looming over me all that time, I would die. I would die not only because I believe that forced creative time is a contradiction in terms, but because I just get too serious when I write and I fear that I would find myself spinning into those dark places that I don't always want to go.

I manage it, Gary, and I'm still here! I find writing so time and mind consuming that I seem to need all that time (to fiddle, stare out of windows with a vacant expression, bite my nails, &c). I know what you mean, though, about sometimes not wanting to "go there": I must be the world's best procrastinator. But I seem to need an intense immersion in order to do it. I'm also one of those people who responds beautifully to deadlines (I always used to like exams) - self discipline is part of writing, for me.

[Gary Wassner]

Self discipline is part of life for me! God, I am so disciplined.

Sometimes I feel as if I am an actor behind that stage, turning to the left and saying 'showtime!', putting on the right hat and stepping out.

I juggle. But i manage to keep all the balls in the air. I think it's the fear that if I drop one, they will all come crashing down, that keeps me going.

I just simply do not have enough time in my day, and time will not stop for me. Instead, it seems to be rushing ahead ever faster.

[alison]

I juggle. But i manage to keep all the balls in the air. I think it's the fear that if I drop one, they will all come crashing down, that keeps me going.

I just simply do not have enough time in my day, and time will not stop for me. Instead, it seems to be rushing ahead ever faster.

Nothing like a bit of terror to get the cornflakes crackling, Gary! Myself, I seem to work off over-commiting myself. If I line up a series of tasks that it's actually impossible to do, I'll probably get myself so scared of not doing them that I'll get them done. Ridiculous, I know, but there we are. Hence my sensible policy of always working on six things at once. Though I've found out one thing: novels are jealous gods.

I often think of that thing Camus had over his desk: "Time. Don't waste it." Not that I live up to it, alas.