This has been one of those weeks! And I do believe I have ‘more' of those weeks coming. Finally got my contracts, signed them, and slipped them in the mail to my agent. Seeing those dates in black ink is a great motivator, especially when surrounded by legal language. I have to finish a book and write a proposal before conference. Eeek! Better get busy, right?

It's funny, but before I sold a book, I really wanted to be just like my favorite authors — writing books in my jammies, hobnobbing with agents and editors, chatting with my best writer friends about our books and which lists we were on, etc. And though it's seriously cool to have a book coming out, and to have books that someone is waiting to publish, it's also a JOB. More of a job than it was when I wasn't published. Because if I got stuck then, I could just nip out to the mall and engage in some retail therapy. Or drop everything and go to lunch with a friend. Or garden, rearrange my furniture, read blogs all day, etc.

I've realized that though I LOVE my job, it's not just fun and games. There will be good days and bad, there will be pressure, and sometimes you have to sit at that keyboard no matter how sunny it is outside and how much you want to frolic through the grass. Life does not magically change the instant someone wants to buy your book. No, it's cool, and you will be very happy — but it's still work. My favorite authors are sitting at their desks, doing the same things I'm doing. They aren't indulging in margarita lunches everyday, or flitting through Neiman-Marcus looking at designer clothes.

Darn. Something else to add to the misconceptions list, right? If you aren't a writer, what's your dream job? And if you are a writer, what's your dream writing life like?

(If I wasn't a writer, I'd want to be an interior designer. You would laugh if you saw my home's interior, but hey, it's a DREAM.)

Monday's winner: M.V. Freeman! M.V. wins a copy of Jessica Anderson's Nightkeepers for her very own. Yay!