When I speak with children in schools, I always tell them that I have another job, that I’m here as an author on my vacation day, and I’ve always worked full time. I have a career in philanthropy. I started many years ago at the University of Hawaii.
I’m now vice president for advancement at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, which is fun for me because there’s an illustration department, so I’ll be able to hopefully bring in illustrators and build up that.
One of the things I think is important for children to know about is that if you have a dream on something that you really wanna do, you may not always be able to do it full-time. We live in a culture that’s very celebrity driven, and I think our ideas of success are sometimes like
well, if we can’t make it on American Idol or if we’re not a movie star, then we can’t be an actor.
I think that’s the same way with writing. For me, I’ve always balanced those two things. We have two grown children who are actually are still living at home. I’ve had a very supportive husband who cooks, which is helpful. I try to write when I can. I write on weekends, I write at night.
Every once I in a while I’ll take myself away and take a day off and write. My newest book, Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek, I remember taking a day off from work and sitting at the Oregon State University library and just pounding away at it.