I spent most of Sunday afternoon answering questions for an interview with Long and Short Reviews. The questions were great…excellent, in fact.

I saved one question in particular for last in the interview. And this is because I think it breaks a popular myth about all writers, across the board. We’re often perceived as being absent-minded and unusual, messy and disorganized. They say we drink too much and don’t focus enough on practical matters because we’re always too busy focusing on our “art.” I even read one blog post right after Christmas where a m/m romance author joked around in a guest post on a review site about how we’re all in therapy and we’re all these insecure, terrified creative types who are never understood. I once even read somewhere that writers who are extremely messy and disorganized are always great in bed. (I swear I did.)

Well.

Interesting.

I’m smiling as I write this. But I have say blah, blah, blah, to all of the above. I’m sure there are some writers like this. I’m sure there are many people in all professions like this. If there weren’t, my parents, who happen to be therapists, wouldn’t have done so well.

But as a writer, I prefer not to be lumped into any categories as far as my basic personality goes and how I choose to live my life. This thing about writers being needy, insecure, messy, and prone to all kinds of quirks is about as wrong as it gets. This thing about writers being in therapy is wrong, too. The one about being messy and great in bed is just too ridiculous to even touch. A slob is a slob; this has nothing to do with writers or being great in bed. And when I answered the questions for Long and Short Reviews, I decided to try and bust this myth that’s been going around for so long.

Here’s the question about which I’m talking, and I’ll post more about the interview when it’s published.

21. What would we find under your bed?

Absolutely nothing, seriously. You could eat off the floor under my bed. I saved this question for last on purpose. Writers are often referred to as disorganized, messy, and, in a general sense, not quite stable. My home is immaculate. I spend long hours working on my property. There’s nothing beneath my bed. My checkbook is always balanced, my bills are paid on time, and I’ve never been in therapy (and my parents are therapists). I don’t drink too much (often) or take drugs of any kind (ever). So the myth of writers being these weird unbalanced wacko creatures makes me smile all the time.