This could have been a very long post, but I’ve held back and limited myself to the top ten things I love about being a writer. Here they are:

1. I get paid for making things up. (When I was a kid, I got into trouble for that kind of thing.)
2. I can take a day off whenever I like. (But if my editor’s reading this, I never actually take a day off, honest.)
3. I can work in my jammies. (I think this is most writers favourite thing about their job, which is slightly worrying.)
4. I get to spend hours on the internet and call it research. (Some day I’ll definitely write a book that justifies the hours I spent looking at patterns for crochet animals.)
5. I can travel and call it research. (Hmmm, maybe it’s time to set a book in Barbados.)
6. If I had a cat, I could work with her on my lap. (Note to self – get a cat.)
7. I get fan-mail. (‘<em>Judi, your books rock my world.’ </em> Swoon!)
8. I visit schools and get paid for talking about my favourite thing – reading. (And I don’t have to correct maths homework, or do playground duty or deal with the multi-coloured droppings when the mice have been eating the crayons again.)
9. I go to dinners with like-minded people and we spend the whole night talking about books. (And I call that part of my job.)
10. I go into shops and see my books on the shelf. (And if I do a happy-dance, no-one cares because I’m an author so I can be as eccentric as I want.)
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(This post first appeared on www.girlsheartbooks.com)