FAQ: Seriously, you get up at 5:00 am ?!

It's true: usually I get up at 5:00 am. Sometimes I even get up at 4:30. Or I like to loll about and sleep in until 6:00. I'm an early bird. I like the quiet. I like getting that head start on the day. I like that by the time I've hit the office at 9:00  am, I've written a few pages of a novel. A farmer I know says that sleeping til 8 makes him feel like the day is half over.

Look, this requires seriously strong coffee. Much to the chagrin of my physical therapists, this coffee fueled writing binge at dawn usually takes place in bed. This is not an ergonomically correct workspace, but it's warm and lovely and the perfect place for writing romance.

There's important stuff in life that always seems to get pushed aside—that novel you always wanted to write, exercising, eating breakfast. For me, making those things a priority means making sure it's the first thing I do, before all my plans are derailed by an explosion of email and meetings and traffic jams. One of my frequent tips for writers is to write every day,  preferably first thing.

I get up crazy early to make sure these important things get done. Otherwise they'll get pushed off until some "later" that never arrives, or when it does I'm not in the mood. By the end of the day, I'm exhausted. By 9:00 pm, I am asleep. But then I'm awake, and refreshed first thing the next morning. So yes, I get up at 5:00 am and (most of the time) I like it.

Any other early birds out there?