Daily Archives: April 18, 2008

The Write Way……..

By Maureen Child

Well, I missed my blog day yesterday and all I can cry is DEADLINE!

That’s the thing about being a working writer–when you’re in the sprint to the finish line, everything else falls by the wayside. Housework, cooking, husbands, kids, BLOGS. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but it seems to be inevitable.

By the time you’re at the end of your book and the deadline is looming and you know there’s an editor somewhere in New York scrubbing her hands together waiting to get hold of your manuscript, that’s ALL you can think about.

You’ve lived and breathed with these characters for weeks–sometimes months. You’ve been their creator, their co-conspirator, their tormentor and because of all of that, you’re much too involved with your fictional world to look up and notice the real world.

That’s a good thing, usually. But let me be the first to say, don’t let the fictional world keep you in thrall for too long. Fight your way past your characters and your stories to make sure your real world gets plenty of attention, too. And yes, I do see the irony in me handing out that advice. But I got a wake up call last night and I vow that my real world is from now on going to be every bit as vivid as my fictional one………..


Maureen Child is the author of more than 100 books. She’s a RITA finalist this year along with being a finalist in the National Readers Choice awards. She is, at the moment, outside, enjoying the real world.