Do you fall asleep when you read? I can go either way. Depends on the book, the time of day, the chair… Where sleep gets me is not with reading, but with writing!

In the fall, I feel alive, excited, ready to write. I think it’s that back-to-school thing. I peruse Office Depot adds imagining what I would buy if I went back to school, I check out a few Masters programs online, I read first day of school books, like JASON AND MARCELINE by Jerry Spinelli, and I send my characters back to school themselves. It’s a great time to be a writer.

Winter’s pretty good too because I’m way too cold to fall asleep during the day. Even with silk long underwear and bulky sweaters, you’ll find me with blankets and icy fingers at the computer. Tea is a staple and the caffeine probably contributes to my productivity.

Spring is where things start to break down. In Early spring, it’s just so pretty that I end up spending a lot of time on the porch reading. Since reading technically counts as writing in my dictionary (Don’t read? Can’t write!), I just indulge my instincts. However, once the pollen sets in…it’s sleepy time. I told my husband I could walk around and scrape the pollen off the cars and furniture, put it capsules, and sell it as a sleep-aid on the internet and we’d be millionaires. He said I’d fall asleep before I could fill one capsule. He’s probably right. Writing suffers in the spring.

I’ve heard from a lot of writers that the summer is their best time to write because they’re teachers and have it off, or their kids spend lots of time at activities which means they have to be there and supposedly they’re watching to make sure the kiddies don’t drown (Anne Marie), but actually they’re writing. Summer is not my best writing time. Why? Because summer makes me sleepy. It’s true. I could sleep away the entire summer if my husband didn’t need things like meals and sunset walks.

So when’s your favorite season to write? When are you the most productive? And most importantly, how can I stay awake this summer?