Thanks for stopping by Joanne and Cat! Juggling contentment against ambition is such a tricky balance to master.

And, yes, Cat – I know exactly what you mean. The other day I was trying to explain to my son what it’s like for us writing-parents… I told him it was like playing soccer: “…when you tackle a player and get the ball – that’s me finding something wrong with my story. Then you weave past players on the pitch and head towards the goal – that’s me staring at my screen thinking of solutions. You see an opening near the goal, you have to be fast, you go to strike – that’s me typing furiously at the keyboard with an idea. Your ball sails past the goalie, it’s going to be a goal… only a giant stomps on the goal, snatches up the ball, and asks if you’ve seen his ipod.” He smiled and nodded when I told him that, and I thought I might have had a breakthrough. He went to go look for his ipod in the usual places, found it himself and I settled back down to write.

Ten minutes later, he calls out “I’m hungry. When’s dinner?”