Tima Smith

You start out thinking anyone can write fiction if they really want to. At least until you actually sit down and try to do it yourself. Uh-oh. So it really is a skill – and even more than that. A nuanced craft that takes more than a little while to learn.

But I’ve been writing now for a long time, and I’m pretty sure I’ve acquired the knack.

Genre fiction, because that’s what sells – romance, mystery, suspense. And some serious fiction, because that’s what nurtures. Along with family (nine grandchildren? How did that ever happen?) Dogs, three (well recently two, but Emma’s spirit stays). A self-built house on a Connecticut hill, started 30 years ago and still not quite finished, but even though the finishing is only up to me now, I’ll get it there eventually. As well as the book about it, which will definitely be finished before the house.

Gardening (the mock orange bloomed for the first time this year!) Running (as long as I can do three miles, I’m happy). Hiking with my dogs. Staying warm, which depends on keeping the wood stove in plenty of wood, which takes plenty of time.

In other words, life is full. And what more can anybody ask.