Isn’t it fun getting to know a new fave? Kinda like getting a nice, thick, juicy New York steak done medium rare? With extra crispy bacon the side!

We recently reached out to one of our new favorites, Elizabeth Pantley, author of the Destiny Falls Mystery and Magic series (links to our reviews of her first three books appear below). We offered her a guest post to give you a chance to get to know her better. So here ya go. Enjoy!

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The Expression

You know that expression, ‘If you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life’? That really should be rewritten. The truth of the matter is that if you love your job, you’ll likely put in more hours than seems humanly possible. Yes, it’s a joy. And yes, it’s rewarding. But man, oh, man, you will passionately throw as much time as possible into your work.

So, that expression should really read, ‘If you love your job, you’ll spend all your waking hours doing it, or thinking about it when you’re not doing it! But the rewards will be so great that it will be worth every exhausting minute.’

As a writer, most of my work is done on my trusty laptop. That means no matter where I go, I take my office with me. On a boat? Yep. On a plane? Of course. In the park? You bet. In the waiting room of my doctor’s office? Sure thing. Watching a movie with my husband? Tap, tap, tap, tap. While on vacation? Umm . . . see photo.

Being your own boss can be a challenge because you are immersed in the daily process, but you always have your eye on the end result, too. Usually, “the boss” wants to get to the end result quicker than the “employee” is capable of reaching it!

The Challenge

The challenge with being both “boss” and “employee” is that those two sides can sometimes clash. The boss part will be pushing the employee part of yourself to beat a deadline, and putting on the pressure to get things moving on to the next step. The employee part will beg for a day off, but usually be denied.

The Good News

The good news is that both parts of you get to rejoice in the achievements and the successes. There is so much fun in creating a great plot, and in seeing a story come together. There’s a serious rush when characters you write are so real they jump off the page into a movie reel in your head. There is so much joy to be found when goals are met, and books are published!

And then, when the positive reviews roll in, all parts of you find great pride in the work you’ve done, and a renewed energy to keep moving forward to the next book.

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• Read our review of Book 1 in Elizabeth’s Destiny Falls mystery and magic series, Falling Into Magic, here. 
• Our review of Book 2, The Disappearance of Emily, can be found here.
• Our review of Book 3 in the series, The Ghost Camper’s Tall Tales, is here.

 

Visit Elizabeth Pantley online here.