Me, a morning person?

Wow. I can't believe it's been over six months since I published my last post. I'm a slacker. Well, truthfully, I just got bogged down with work and life. Plus, John and I spent much of the last six months building a dog-proof fence because, although we live in the woods, recent events made us realize that it is just not safe for our dogs to run the way they'd like to. More on that in another post.

The pressures of work and building the dog-proof fence, made for excellent excuses not to write. Well, sure, I write all day. Tomes and tomes of words to train IT administrators and programmers. I'm good at it and it pays the bills. But what I made excuses not to do was the kind of writing I love -- writing stories.

So I made a New Year's resolution. I normally don't bother with them because the ones I make are rarely important enough to stick to a week, let alone a year. But this time, it was important. The first week -- success one day, cold weather, and fail. I was trying to write in the evenings when my mind was ready to just tune out and watch a movie. So I devised a plan. I would write in the mornings -- before taking care of dogs or cows or anyone. I would start the coffee brewing and let the words flow.

...and they are. The first week, I started writing between 6 and 6:30. Not everyday, but often enough that the immersion started. The story became the thing I dreamed about -- the thing that got me going in the morning. Now I'm in the fourth week, and I'm starting around 5:30 instead of 6, to get that extra half hour in before sunrise, when the hungry mouths start bawling.

Looking up from my writing to notice a view like this is a nice bonus

While I can't say I look forward to mornings, especially when the temperature is 2F with a negative something windchill, I do get out of bed. I start the coffee brewing, put my hands on the keyboard, and immerse myself in the story for an hour or an hour and a half while the sun edges up on the horizon.

For those moments, I am thankful. Check out the other people who are thankful. These are the people who keep me inspired.