Chris, congratulations on your funding.

Cathryn doesn't get much done in December. Most writers take that month off for various reasons. The holidays, and birthdays in my family mostly center around the new year. I tend to want to hibernate around the solstice. I burrow in bed and watch DVDs. So not much writing is getting done at Alperthaus of late.

I rev up again once my birthday on Jan. 4th has come and gone. I shop for Christmas online so I get to avoid stores and traffic. Then, I have my daughter or the Spouse take packages to the post office for me. Yes, I guess December is my only vacation month. Other than that, I'm a workaholic.

I'm up before the sun. No phone calls. No kids. No spouse. Just me and my work for several uninterrupted hours. It's nice. A new routine for me that seems to work. At 7:45, I wake my husband, make us espressos, and we sit and talk for an hour to an hour-and-a-half. It's a nice break for me and he gets to miss the rush hour traffic. Then, it's back to work for several more hours. In the afternoon, when my creative juices are running dry, I'll do bills, or medical insurance billing, etc. The kids come home from school, and the house gets busy. That's my routine.

When I'm writing, the Spouse and the kids are very supportive and respect my need for privacy and quiet. They're really great about it. Very supportive.

Probably more than you wanted to know... I did just have a short story published in a first-class magazine called "The Rambler." I'm currently working on some other short story projects and will get back to the book after the new year.

Cathryn