Busy, Busy, Busy

These past couple days have kept me busy, busy, busy. When people find out that I am a freelance writer, they always ask me how many hours a day I write. I think they have a romantic vision of me studiously pounding away on the keys hour after hour, day after day, week after week, and so on.

That's not how it works.

Before I can write an article, I have to talk to people. And for the past three days, that's what I've been doing ... talking to people. I spend more time talking to people than I do actually writing.

Gathering information is what it's about. I have to anticipate all the questions my editors will ask and figure out which answers I still need. I've got a lot of little factoids rolling around in my head right now. Unfortunately, they aren't all on the same topic. Multi-tasking is the name of my game.

Seeing as how I've got to extract information from lots of different people, I've learned how to ask the right questions, but I've also learned to be a good listener. I'm always amazed at how openly total strangers will talk to me if I smile, nod my head, ask questions and respond appropriately.

In the past few days, I've toured a house that was completely remodeled to be the epitome of green, hung out with a bunch of kids from the local high school debate team and had a phone conversation with an author from Seattle about women and travel.

Each of these encounters was totally engaging in a different way. I must say, however, that I wish I had half the energy of those high school kids.

*Photos
-Live Green Live Smart House Before
-Live Green Live Smart House After
-Cover art for Wanderlust and Lipstick