Writing is a funny business. What is work? What is day dreaming? What is wasting time? What counts and what doesn’t count?

Many of you reading this who are in the creative field will know exactly where I’m coming from. When your hubby or a friend asks, “So, what did you do today?” and you answer (maybe just a touch defensively…), “Well, I worked,” sometimes it’s not really the kind of work they’re thinking of.

I watched a Fassbinder movie, so shoot me! I mean, well, um, for me that’s actually work. I went to a bookstore and checked out books about teens. Again, real work. So, I watched TV, work! HARD WORK!

I’m only half kidding here. Inspiration comes from the strangest places and at the strangest times.

While I was away with the kids in Germany, I was all theirs. I didn’t take my laptop, I didn’t answer (or even check) e-mail and I took no business calls. “Work” was on hold. I listened to them, spent every waking hour with them, had fun with them and also hung out doing nothing.

But that stretch of ten days was incredibly rewarding for me in terms of work. I had ideas for three new books, which I am so excited about. I carried around a little notebook with me in which I jotted everything down. I planned a new workshop I want to run in the fall, a non-fiction book project I’m going to start, and I figured out my next novel! I even started day-dreaming about a writing book I’m going to work on once I get famous. Dream big, I say…

So taking a little time to relax actually proved to be very fruitful professionally. And my kids got a happy mom to boot. Talk about killing two birds with one stone!

Okay, so we’re on vacation. That’s usually a time when you can indulge a little and crack open a book or two. Or, well… in my case, three of four. I just can’t get enough of books. Reading helps me relax, it stimulates my imagination and I find it utterly engrossing. Eventually Kevin gets sick of seeing my nose buried in the pages and starts making comments like “Get a life,” and “Hey, remember me?” but I do a pretty good job of ignoring him.

So yesterday I rushed to get back to my book (the new Jeffrey Archer bestseller) and yelled to the kids over my shoulder as I scampered off to my room, “And, kids!  It’s time for you guys to read too!”

Half an hour later I started feeling guilty. Bet they’re on the computer, I thought. Better check on them. Not fair to ignore them totally now, is it? So I head into the hallway. All is deathly quiet. I peak into their rooms. All three of them are lying on their beds. Each one has a book propped open. EACH CHILD IS QUIETLY READING. Yes, reading. Quietly! So I go right back to my novel, guilt gone, feeling pretty darn happy.