Who Needs Sleep?

"Why do you stay up so late and write?"

I won't tell you who asked me that, but I live with her and she's married to me.  That's the only hint you get.

And it's an excellent question, with multiple answers.  I'll tell you the answer I gave her, but first here are some other valid responses:

• It's fun
  
• When it's working, creating stories is better than reading stories
  
• So I don't forget how to do it
  
• Because it's the only way to keep the voices at bay

All those and more would have had truth to them.  But here's the real answer, and the one I gave her:

"It's my job."

I work in Information Technology.  At best I figure I have forty years left before the technology passes me by, or the robots take over.  Without other marketable skills, where would that leave us?

I have to practice.  I have to improve.  I have to write.

In all seriousness, I love writing.  The goal is to be read, and earn enough that I can tell people "I'm a professional writer," without displaying that nervous facial tick I get when I lie.

And the dream?  To eventually make it my primary (only) source of income, and on my own terms.  (My own terms being that it's my decision and not that of the Robot Masters.  May they function forever.)