- 'If you put a snowball in a glass, say ... how much water would you have? Half a glass?
- 'Mmm, I would think two-thirds. Depends on how big the snowball is, of course.'

We both silently rededicate ourselves to the work we are actually doing. 

A little later:

- 'When you have a band around your neck, hey ... and you tense your muscles ... do you see them ónder or above the band?'
- "Wait, then where is that band ... here?" (eloquent hand gestures.) "Above it, then. But they are, of course, in fact
always...
- 'ÓUnder the belt, yes, that's my dilemma.
- 'I would put under, yes.'

Where a writer and a creator of D&D adventures work together at home, issues sometimes come up where it's best not to ask questions, if you don't want spoilers. 

This morning I woke up to the promise that my oatmeal (today with cardamom, rice milk and papaya), was ready. It has its advantages to be the long sleeper in the house. After I got up, I first checked my messages and emails, got tempted to open Facebook and Instagram briefly, and - after just a little too long a distraction as things got cozy at a reading group - closed everything again. Today is a writing day and I want my head free for that.

First, just finishing up a rush job for one of my clients. She wants an article for her website in which she would like to incorporate an old parable. Those are the kind of copywriting assignments I look forward to. 

Then I let go of the real world and step into the one I am creating. I open the file Children of Orpheus and read back a few paragraphs. Yesterday I was too deep into the action to get very concerned about where the concert hall I've come up with should be, but today I want to give it a place in Paris first. I grab a travel guide and the websites I saved earlier and get to puzzling. Okay, I think it should be possible there. 

Then I get carried away by my characters again. When one of them suddenly does something I don't expect I feel that familiar breathlessness - this scene tells itself to me, this is going to be a good one. 

I only let the flow be interrupted - somewhat reluctantly - by an afternoon walk. If I in the zone am, then I would prefer to go on endlessly, but I know from experience that it actually helps to pause and distance myself. 

In the evening, it's my turn to cook. While I cut vegetables, my husband reads a bit further from Iskari, the book we are reading together in this way. After dinner we plunge into Netflix - Star Trek today - and then we light a few candles and end the day with a few hours of reading. I first read a new version of the myth of Orpheus that I recently snapped up and then continue in a new urban fantasy I got for Christmas. In the background, my brain is already working on the next scene ... so there's a good chance I'll be rewriting another hour or so later after midnight, when hubby is asleep....

Author: Petra Dooms