Writing can be lonely. You wake up early or stay up late and hole up in a corner somewhere – your laundry room or your den – and close off all communication with everyone for a while. After you rise for air, you have a page written, or five, or ten. Or maybe you count words. Or maybe you just stop after you feel fulfilled.

Then what? Your wife or husband or partner finds you squirreled away in your usual spot and you proudly say, I knocked out a thousand words this morning!

They look at your disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, as if thinking maybe they should intervene. And then they say, Cool, and walk away.

On an FB authors and agents group, someone asked how do you keep yourself going? The answer is simple, set milestones large and small and then celebrate them. Pop a bottle of Malbec. Plan a nice dinner at Waffle House. Anything.

But it also helps when your spouse or partner understands what these wins mean to you. Thank you, Brittany, for celebrating with me.

Damn the Ponytail!