I'd always done my writing using an old desktop computer running windows 98 which resides in a large, oak roll top desk in a quiet corner of an upstairs room in my home.  In front of the desk is an incredibly comfortable high backed leather chair. When I sit down and plug my Creative Zen loaded with over 400 various pieces of music into my ears I'm instantly in writing mode and, after quickly reviewing where I left off, am able to proceed with my novel completely disconnected from the rest of the world. This had been my writing mode for years but, instead of just grabbing an ... << MORE >>

What a wonderful thing life is.  Why question existence or attempt to give it purpose; simply enjoy it and pursue your innate drives.  Achieve satisfaction by being the best you can be while doing the things that please you or help you capture your dreams.  Spend time in the company of other beings whose lives you may enrich and who, in turn, provide pleasure and enrichment for you.  Learn.  Live.  Above all, recognize that you simply "are" a finite part of the infinite "is" and give all life forms due respect; they are living just as you are.

Being new to writing novels and coming from a business background, it made sense to me to approach writing by first defining my characters and then creating a detailed outline as to what will be happening in each chapter, fully expecting that some scenes might  become more involved and either push into subsequent chapters or require new ones to be added.  What I wasn't prepared for, however, was that while writing my first book my main characters took the storyline away from me.  From somewhere around the middle of Wolf at the Threshold to the end I was excitedly capturing their story rather than writing about them in mine.  From then on, when I sat down at my computer it was with curiosity about where they were going to take me as opposed to my taking them along the track I had so diligently prepared.  True, we ended up in the right place, but my way we got there was very different from my initial outline.  I thought this might have been a quirk, but when I finished chapter 7 and my main character wanted to do something entirely different than what I had planned,  I did some more research and had to conclude that this way was better.  So chapter 8 became 'off outline,' and left me quite curious as to the events that would take him to the very necessary occurrences somewhere between chapters 11 and 14.  I have to admit that its rather exhilarating when my characters become alive like this and I wonder if it is to be one of the ongoing pleasures of being a writer.  I certainly hope so.