And it's 3 am... and all is quiet... or is it?

So you're awake... DH is snoring... you can't sleep.


What do you do?


I get up go into the kitchen, where we have an aga and a settee and I write.


Now maybe I'm lucky, but the older I get the less sleep I seem to need. And I can't stand lying awake and trying not to wriggle, cough,  dig DH in the ribs to stop said snoring, and look at the clock every five minutes. *sigh*


So kitchen, Aga, cuppa, and Mac. (Oh and yeah, I'm a cat lady, so usually two cats competing with each other and laptop for space.) And I get tapping.


I seem to have some of my best (?) most creative (?) well prolific anyway, spurts in the middle of the night. I think it's because it's my time, I'm not taking myself away from anyone else. I've always like those few hours when the rest of the family is asleep and I can do what I want. Now, I can write away, secure in the knowledge that no one wants me for other things. and when the alarm goes off just after 6, I can take DH a cuppa in. At first he was worried, why did I get up, was I getting enough sleep? But I explained. Now I get, did you achieve much? Can I read it? Such support is invaluable. As is the evenings when I've forgotten the time, and he  goes off and makes dinner.


Our children have flown the nest, and we only have us at home, but we do lead busy lives. And okay I could tap away merrily in my writing spurts for ages. Except for a few important things. my DH, I want to spend time with him. I walk most days, do do the occasional vacuum and dust, Wash iron (GRR) and do all the necessary things (mostly lol) to keep the house from falling around us.


But apart from all that, I have suspected fibromyalgia, which means there are times my whole body aches, my hands go numb and I can't even touch a keyboard. (my handwriting is unreadable because of this—my crit group call the typos ravenfingers) so believe me I type as and when I can.


I've been really lucky this past year. Life has been a real roller coaster. I've had some amazing holidays,  made a lot of new friends, and been published. I chose to use a pen name, because I liked the idea of being able to pick my own name. There were a lot of ideas floated around, until Raven (after the bird which announces change), and MacAllan (a play on the best whisky in the word) was decided on. This wasn't because I'm ashamed of what I wrote. Not at all, I'm damned proud of my work, and anyone who's important to me knows me and my pen name. No because I wanted to be able to put on the Raven Hat and write!


I'll be the first person to admit, I don't write 'tomes' or deep and meaningful long novels. No I write, I hope, something to entertain my readers for an hour or so. To take them to a world where they can wallow in whatever I've written; be it regency, contemporary, erotica or sweetness, and forget the ironing, shouting kids, and the fact it's raining.


Do I succeed? I hope so. I make no apologies for what I write, none at all. I know I won't please all of the people, horses for courses! But when I get an email from an old friend I haven't seen in years which say, "I'm so proud of you, I love your books .You've made it."... well that's all I can ask!


I'll stick with these 3am forays...