Nose? Meet grindstone

Whoa, does Christmas keep you away from the blogosphere and Internet.

Not only have I been ultra-busy at work (vacation isn't really vacation when they cram two weeks of work into the seven days before you leave), but I've also had to worry about things like getting Christmas lights on the house, shopping and gearing up for a trip to the parents' house for a few days.

I've also found that cramming in writing and editing and all that fun stuff has been tough, too. I've written plenty of posts on how you can't let life get in the way, how sometimes it still does, and how you can make up for it.

But this month is a little different. Everybody told me that November would be a pain in the neck with National Novel Writing Month - that it would bury me up to my neck in working on the book. Well, November has nothing on December.

I probably haven't written as many words in December as I did in November, but I'm finding my sessions to be more intensive because I don't want to waste the precious few moments I have to work on things.

That said, I'm going to really have to buckle up and focus in this next week. All that family stuff is great, and I like hanging out with my family members I never get to see all year as much as anybody else. But I'm a writer, too, and that means I have to try and find time to write (if I can).

I don't want to take any days off (unless it is completely unavoidable), because one day turns into two, into four, and then into 10. At least that's the way it is for me.

So batten down the hatches, Christmas, I'm going to work straight through whether you want me to or not.