I started writing when I was thirteen years old, but didn’t pursue publishing seriously until I was in my 20s. It took me thirteen years to become published. NEVER MARRY A STRANGER is my 20^th book, and I have two manuscripts sitting under my bed that will never see the light of day. My writing schedule has fluctuated a lot in that time, due mostly to my children.

When they were little, I used to sneak time to write (this is before I was published). They went to bed early, and so did my husband (he used to work an early shift). After 9:00, I would closet myself in my office and write for a couple hours. Writing was so new and marvelous that I would look up and find it was 1:00 a.m.! I was just so amazed that I could write a book. And I was lucky in that my husband has never been the kind of man to begrudge my need to write. He knew how important it was to me. He’s still my biggest support.

Sniff, okay, enough of the mushy stuff.  The good thing was, writing like that kept me in the story, because I tried to use whatever free time I had. But the bad side of this was that sometimes I was just exhausted, especially after I began to work part-time, programming computer-controlled machines. Hard to find the brainpower to write when even reading the newspaper at night seemed too demanding. Sometimes months would go by before I’d write again, especially when I got stuck in the plot. Thank goodness for my critique group. We meet once a month, and that forced me to write. But I never gave up on my goal. The rejections were getting better and better. I came up with a new proposal, Avon read it—and asked if I had a completed book. And I did!  The Darkest Knight was published in January, 1999.

After all the joy and amazement and pride settled down, I realized that no longer could I put something aside for months. I had my first deadline—nine months later. I’d never written a book in under two years. Heck, one took five! Way too much research and procrastination. I’m better at both now. I was still working part-time, so I only had evenings and weekends. My logical brain kicked in, and I started making daily page goals, allowing myself a month to revise at the end. Much tougher, especially now that my kids were playing soccer and lacrosse, swimming year round, or singing in the school musical. But I was determined to be a professional writer.

Within a year I was able to quit my other job and write full-time. It was definitely easier, but I discovered a whole new set of challenges. The weakness of procrastination still gnawed at me. And trust me, I’m not big on cleaning. It was the paperwork, the carpooling, the college admissions, the sports tournaments. And as an author, there are websites and contracts and page proofs and bookmarks. I slowly learned that I could get the most actual writing done in the morning, so I taught myself to be a lark instead of an owl. No more staying up late. In bed by 11:30, up by 6:30.

And it’s still the same way now that my last child is in college. My evenings are no longer filled with their events (and I miss that so much!). But I find that I have no wish to write at night anymore. I try for five days a week, 6-8 hours a day. That lets me write 2-3 books a year (since I write under Julia Latham, as well).

As I look back, I realize that writing was very different at the many stages in my life. I guess the message is to persevere and change as you need to.  Or are you resistant to change?

Gayle Callen caught up to Susan Elizabeth Phillips to talk about her new book, What I Did For Love–and no, Gayle isn’t stalking her again, although there are some videos on the Avon Books site that are pretty incriminating…

GC: Your new book, WHAT I DID FOR LOVE, deals with celebrities. How famous are you?
SEP: Nothing like starting off the interview with a little sarcasm… Let’s just say that I’m not quite as famous as Bram and Georgie, my hero and heroine. Wait! At our neighborhood bookstore last week, a customer asked me if I was Janet Evanovitch. Does that count?

GC: What’s one thing we’d be surprised to learn about you?
SEP: I’m a terrible speller, I can cry at the drop of a hat, and I have a crush on Tim Gunn from Project Runway. As for my other secrets… Not telling!

GC: Which classic have you always meant to read and never got around to it?
SEP: Any classics I meant to read, I’ve already read. A few I’ve never forgiven myself for opening. MOBY DICK springs to mind.

GC: Do you have any favorite place to write?
SEP: I have a beautiful office. (See photos) But I end up carrying my laptop to our upstairs guest room. Laptop doesn’t connect to Internet. Guest room has a beat up Laz-E-Boy. ‘Nuff said.

GC: What is your favorite word?
SEP: Ice Cream. Oh, wait, that’s two words. Still…