Today I'm exactly one month out from my book's release ... and I find myself wanting to check into a rehab clinic. :)

I exaggerate (of course) ... I realize that all the work I'm doing to get the word out about Nox Dormienda -- blog tours, launch party, book tours, articles, and the like -- is an honor. A privilege. So as exhausted as I am, I'm grateful to be in this position! (and no, I'm not addicted to anything except dark chocolate).

The tension comes between promotion and writing. Given the fact that I hold a day job, I'm forced to split a few hours every day into smaller parcels ... one for blogs, one for emails, maybe a partial chapter if I'm lucky. Unlike some writers, I actually enjoy the marketing ... it's social contact, the chance for travel, even if only virtual, and the opposite of sitting in front of your screen wrestling with a line of dialogue, or scratching your head over an adverb.

So my needs are simple. I just need more time.

If I had an extra, oh, four hours a day ... I'd write. Pure and simple. Finish the work in progress (a dark novel set in 1940 San Francisco). Take a longer walk with the dog. Maybe give my house a thorough, brisk cleaning, and get some stuff rearranged. Haven't done that in a long, long time ...

The fact is, life gets put on hold. You're faced with the economic pressure of doing everything you can to make your book profitable for its publisher. And to sustain that career you're working so hard on, you must keep writing.

Two plates in the air, constantly spinning. And--at least in my case--certain things have had to be sacrificed in order to spin them.

Fortunately, my family is willing to make that sacrifice with me.

One reason why writers never truly write alone. We're social animals, after all--we rely on each other for support, for reassurance, for help, for encouragement.

So on the road to July 18th, while I'm thinking about what I'd do with four extra hours, I'll also be saying thank you to a lot of people. Because a book doesn't just take a writer.

It takes a village.