Being a Mom and a Writer

Dear Mrs. Naylor,
I grew up reading your books and absolutely loved them! The Alice Series and Shiloh were my absolute favorite and always will be! I’m 25 and a writer myself, I’m also married and my husband and I have been talking about having children. I’ve always wanted to be a mother but it was also my dream to become a famous writer and I’m scared that if I have a child that I won’t be able to do both. Is it hard being a full time mother and writer? How do you handle it? How do you make time for children, your marriage, and writing and still have family time?

i simply “made” time.  The minute a child was down for a nap, I wrote.  If I got up early in the morning and found I had an extra half hour, I wrote.  Once both boys were in school, I wrote the minute they were out the door, and put the manuscript away when they came home, so I could devote the time to them.  My husband’s favorite hobby was chess, and he loved to go over games alone that he had played in chess club or tournaments, so I was lucky there.  He could entertain himself while I wrote.  But we traveled together and went to movies and had friends, so it was just a matter of paying close attention and preparing for the times of day or evening when I could write undisturbed.  Good luck!