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Or, rather, I wish my day had thirty-nine hours. That would, frankly, make life easier. 

Then again, time does seem to expand to fill a vacuum, so maybe it wouldn't be easier, just longer. I'm not sure. All I know is that there never seems to be enough time (I wonder if that could be because so many people sit around killing time? I mean, come on! If you've got too much time on your hands, don't kill it or waste it, send it my way. After all, time flies, right? Somebody, help my now. I'm getting lost in my own puns....)

Ahem.

Anyway, the point is that for a writer, time is something to be cherished and protected, which is why I've installed a lock on my office door. Because even though fifteen minutes with a break and then another fifteen minutes adds up to thirty minutes, the quality of the interrupted thirty isn't the same as one solid block of luxurious writing time. Which means that, yes, mommy does get frustrated when the head pops in during my writing time. (Thus the lock.) And I end up doing whatever it takes to get in my Big Blocks of Unfettered Writing Time. 

And you need to, too, if you're trying to write. Covet. Protect. Do whatever is necessary. But get those hours!

To be fair, all time woes can't be blamed on the children (or the spouse). Because the thing is, I used to have more time. And I was talking about that the other day over lunch with Julia London and, gasp, we remember a time pre-Twitter. Pre-email. Pre-You Tube (don't faint; that time really existed). And I have to wonder, how did writers procrastinate before Internet distractions? Because you know we did. For most of us, it's part of the nature of the beast, except it's not really procrastinating. (Yes, honey, I know it looks like I'm staring aimlessly into space...or playing solitaire...or painting my toenails, but I'm desperately working out a plot conundrum and please, please, please don't distract me--damn. Too late. I've lost the thread. Might as well waste another hour watching Mad Men now....Not that I would ever do that. That's just an example, of course....)

Actually, now that I think about it, I bet there's a lot less computer solitaire going on in the world now that the Internet is so widespread. And maybe procrastinating writers are the reason that so many television shows do well on DVD and iTunes.

And as for Twitter? Well, at least it's procrastination in 140 characters or less. And, really, how long can that take?

Tainted, Julie Kenner, The Blood Lily Chronicles, urban fantasy, Ace