OK, I’m back.

Where have I been? I feel like I’ve run a marathon…er. Well, I don’t know what it feels like to run a marathon. I imagine it’s tough? Right?

Anyway, I’ve been going and going like a wind-up toy. At work, at home, in my writing life.

It’s not over, really—I’m beginning to understand that having this dual working/writing life means that I’m going to feel like this, always. I’m beginning to understand that feeling this way means I’m doing something right.

Being busy means that I’m taking advantage of all the opportunities I’m given, all the opportunities that I make for myself.

For instance: this week I presented at my first professional writing conference. I proposed the panel, filled it with people I knew would do a great job, and then directed the panel with an introduction and a set of questions. And it was GREAT.

Yes, I just admitted that I did a public speaking engagement and found it to be completely enjoyable.

It might help that I was working with these great, funny writers who were ready to talk, ready to have fun. One guy said, afterward, that I could put him on any panel I ever proposed.

And despite the anxiety I had over this endeavor leading up to it, I just might propose more next year. Why not? This is what I do.

The next hurdle is planning an eight-week class in mystery writing for StoryStudio North Shore. I guess that’s more like eight hurdles, huh?

At the same time, yes, I have a book to revise. The class can’t stop that process. That’s not how it works.

This is how it works.

Here we go.