The worst thing about last week was how behind I got on my correspondence and stuff.

I know people have these glamorous ideas of what an author does, especially a children’s author. That we spend all day playing with puppets or something.

Um…no. Actually after I write my two pages (if I’m working on a novel) then the rest of the day is often taken up with responding to emails.

I could go into details but I wouldn’t want to bore anyone.

Inquiries about presentations, conferences, trips, you name it. Lots and lots of correspondence! And some fan mail.

And some, very frustrating queries about helping writers.

I always try to help people who want to become authors. I know how desperate I felt when I was in their shoes, but really, sometimes people don’t do themselves any favours.

I help people on my schedule. That is, when I have time to spare. Recently a South Asian person who’d been published in her homeland, emailed me and asked for help, and she included an attachment of a story she’d written. Then on top of it all she got some guy to call me, not once, but twice, and reminded me that she needed help.

Sorry, but all that just makes me not want to help her. It might sound mean, but there it is.

If you’re going to ask for help, just ask and then shut up and let the person either respond, or not.

I probably will respond to her. But I’ll take my time. Heaven knows I need to take some time.

I just finished clearing my desk, finished applying for a writer in residency, a travel grant to Italy (phew! that was hard!) and applying to the Canadian children’s book week tour.

Tomorrow I’ll pop over to the post office and mail all this stuff off.

My desk is looking pretty good.

Looks like one of those hoarders’ houses after it’s been cleaned up.

I still can’t figure out hoarders. Don’t they ever clean up? How can they live like that?

And yet, maybe it’s about degrees. My desk can get pretty darn messy. Right now it’s pretty good but I wonder if that’s as a result to watching the hoarders.

It’s a way I can feel superior.

See? I cleaned up my desk. Aren’t I a good girl?

Well, honestly, I didn’t clean it up for that. It just needed cleaning up. In fact I want to get back to some revisions on that novel and I thought I couldn’t concentrate on them until my desk was tidy. That kind of thing.

I was going to start the revisions tomorrow but I’m still so tired from last week. And cleaning up the house over the weekend.

I’ll wait till I’m ready.

But at least my desk is cleaned off.