Grateful For My ‘Alone Time’

Even after seven years of marriage, my husband still gets very amused by the fact that I can last literally all day not talking to anyone.  You see, he's my opposite.  He loves talking while I love writing.  (If truth be told, he used to get annoyed with me for “not making more effort to talk to more people” but he sees the advantages of it now :-)).

It's true that I can simply shut myself in my office for nine hours straight (sometimes longer) and only come out for short bathroom breaks.  But to say that I don't talk to anyone all day during these times is strictly not true.  When I have these precious days, I spend at least two hours a day, sometimes more, connecting with people on Twitter and Facebook or on the email.  I relish that time of connection with those who have the same interests as I have – reading and writing.

There are times when I do crave to be with people more than anything, but as an introvert and a writer, I need to have my alone time and lots of it.  It's my time for rejuvenation and reflection but mainly my time for creativity.

It's really only when I started writing my first romance novel, Will To Love, that I've really celebrated my introversion and love of alone time.  Before that I felt guilty when I spend too much time by myself.  I'm glad I'm over that guilt.  I love writing and having time alone gives me the opportunity to express myself through my books.

Today, I'm in country New South Wales, Australia with my husband who is on a work-related trip.  I'm looking out our hotel window and I can see the sun shining and the ocean sparkling.  I'm inspired to stay here in our room to enjoy my thoughts and write amidst this backdrop.

So today, I want to give gratitude for my alone time.  I may think I don't get as much of it as I would like, but I'm thankful for whatever I do get.

What about you?  Do you love your alone time?  How much of it do you get and what do you prefer doing when you have time to yourself?

Falling In Love With Writing Romance Novels

Clarise Carson and Will Matthews' love story is the first ever novel I have written.  When I sat down one day and decided to write a novel, I knew it was going to be a love story.

I'm excited and grateful that their story is now available for everyone to read.  Will To Love (Lifestyle by Design Book 1) has been available on Amazon for almost a month now.

I didn't know how long it would take me to write it or how focused I would be in completing it but when my fingers hit the keyboard and their story started unfolding, I found myself as engrossed in writing it as when I'm reading a book I couldn't put down.

I found myself typing until very late into the night for a period of three months as I put into words the scenes that were playing in my head.

I fell in love with Will and Clarise as well as the other characters in the book.  It was a revelation to discover that, when I write, my characters seemed like real people to me and I was there telling their stories even though they were just products of my imagination.  My guess is a lot of fiction authors feel and write this way, too.

I originally had a different “middle bit” in mind for Will To Love.  I thought Karen would appear much earlier in the story, that Clarise's “baggage” would hold her back much more than it did and that Will would not discover his true feelings until much later.  But somehow, Will and Clarise's love life developed as it had.  I hope you love their story just as much as I loved writing it.

Completing and publishing this book on Amazon had changed a lot of things for me.  I've long thought about writing a novel but questioned whether I had what it took.  With Will To Love, I now know without doubt that I would love to write more romance novels that people enjoy reading.

Currently, I'm writing Heart Robber, Book 2 of the Lifestyle by Design series.  I can't wait to share that with you when it's ready!

Hello!

Hello everyone!  Welcome to my site.

I look forward to sharing with you my thoughts on love and romance and the books I have loved reading.  I also can't wait to share with you my romance novels including my thoughts and experiences during the writing and publishing process.

I hope to connect with you here.  I'd love to hear about your thoughts and views also.

Love,

Miranda