Most writers I know are driven people. We are always working, even if we don’t have pens in hand or a keyboard under our fingertips. We’re thinking. Plotting. Characterizing. We’re running through “what-if” scenarios. It goes on all the time! (Talk about never leaving work…)

It seems like such a great job: Working our own hours, being flexible. But we knock ourselves out week after week to make our page count goals, then stress over our final deadlines. Once we turn in a completed manuscript, we wonder if the product is good enough. Or if it’ll meet expectations. We worry about covers, print runs, reviews.

Our bosses are really tough – ourselves. We second-guess and rewrite scenes until they meet our own expectations. We wake up at all hours with ideas on how to put the next scene together or why the previous scene didn’t really work the way we thought it should.  Sometimes we’re up at 4 or 5 AM to get our writing done before going to our 9 to 5 jobs, or deal with family responsibilities. Some of us are night owls and write all evening, into the wee hours of the night until the words are out there on the page – or screen.

There aren’t a lot of occupations like ours. Sure, there are other jobs that are just as compelling. My last profession (critical care nursing) was one of them. But storytelling is a calling like no other. It’s an obsession. It can be difficult and stressful. We authors are far more demanding than any boss would ever be, but yet none of us would trade this job for anything. We hope you enjoy what we offer you!