Wow - January 3rd already. 2007. We survived Christmas (and how bad is it when you have to say you survived a holiday???) and we're settled into the New Year. And why is New Year capitalized. that's the bane of my existence right now, typing those gosh darned capitals!

And I haven't been on blogger for over a week. Hard to believe. I don't know where the time went. But the time was wonderful, relaxing, replenishing and great for writing. Three days of wonderful rest - the best kind, where you don't have to leave the house - you don't even have to get dressed if you don't want to - and then I became a writing fool. It's amazing when you get into that zone. You lose track of time and space. You can lose track of days of the week. You might even have to concentrate really hard to remember when you brushed your teeth last. But you write. You are inside your story and you are living it and it is flowing through you like a thunder bolt.

but then there is recovery time too. I spent three days pouring out this hugely emotional family drama, my cheeks were tear stained, my eyes red. And when I was done, I was exhausted. You know that feeling like when you've broken up with a boyfriend or somebody has died? Where you can barely lift one foot in front of the other to walk from room to room? I realized at that point why some authors get lost to drink or drugs. Or even mania or depression. You live your books, your characters, their emotions. It can be overwhelming, especially if you have problems with dealing with emotions, which most of us do.

I'm lucky, I have friends that understand what I mean when I call them and say I need a dose of reality. The come, pick me up and we go out for dinner or to the pub and spend some real time with real people. And then I'm ready to go back into that other world for a while again.

So I guess the lesson for today is - make sure you have your own support group in place before you start writing!