Writing a Book on Contract

The Deadline Dance (and a confession about writing Thunderhead).

Living the life of a full-time writer might sound like a dream—and in many ways, it is. But it's also a life ruled by deadlines, a constant dance with time that can be as exhilarating as it is exhausting.

With my upcoming book, All Better Now, set to release on February 4th, and another one on the horizon this November, the rhythm of writing and revising is more intense than ever.

Writing on contract means embracing this pulse.

Deadlines are the bane of my existence, yet they are an integral part of the process.

Very rarely do I actually make a deadline, but, if I miss a deadline, I better be pretty damn sure that what I'm turning in is so good that it makes my editor not care how late it is. This pressure to perform is immense, yet it drives the quality of what I write.

What I know for sure is I don’t get writing done by chaining myself to a desk. Here’s a reflection on what it’s been like to write more than 50 books in my writing career.