Wait, what? What am I doing? Oh...working!

Hey, y'all.

The last few days have been kind of a run-on haze. Sorry I neglected you, but I've been terribly busy. "Doing what?" you ask. Well, aside from feeding my family and taking the car to the shop and running everyone to and from work, and doing the grocery shopping, and finding time to wash a little laundry here and there, I've been working!

And not just any old job flippin' burgers, but actually doing a branch of my dream job. That's right, kids, Mama's currently engaged doing some new colors for Macon Man.

I've wanted to work in the comics industry since I was 12. I've always been into drawing and art, and since I was two years old, you couldn't hardly find me without a pencil or a crayon or a paint brush in my hand. Plus, my dad has been an avid reader and collector of comic books all his life, so there were always comics around the house. Heck, when I was five, my "imaginary friend" was Batman. I just never knew that people actually got paid to make comics, until my dad started sharing his comics magazines with me; there were interviews and industry news and how-tos in there that opened up a whole new world for me. I decided I wanted to be a comic book artist (a penciler, specifically, at the time), and started drawing sequential pieces, and when I was 12 my dad helped me put together a portfolio and took me to my first comic convention. It's been off into the wild blue yonder since then, pretty much.

My husband and I actually moved to the Atlanta area to advance my career. I dunno if you know it, but Atlanta's probably the second or third most poppin' joint for comics creators; there are all kinds of studios and independent artists and writers here; most of the guys and gals who show up for Dragon*Con in the comics section are locals. It's a very exciting place for young up-and-coming artists, between The Cartoon Network and all the veterans available to one.

But jeezum pete is it a demanding career. Sure, you get to make your own schedule and work from home, but you bet your sweet ass you'll probably be working 12+ hours a day to make that cheddar and meet those deadlines. And trying to be a Fake Housewife on top of that? Bring me a glass of gin and stand the hell back. Here's what's been keeping me sane.

Mama's Tips for Managing a Busy Independent Schedule:

• Break it down into small tasks. You will go nuts if you don't. Crazy rampage nuts.
• On that note, make lists. A jillion lists. You'll feel accomplished as you cross off each item, and it will keep you on task.
• Schedule regular breaks. You gotta pee and eat, right? And if you spend too long on one task, you will find yourself getting burned out and missing the big picture.
• Make yourself stick to some kind of actual schedule. It's okay if it changes here and there; after all, most people have "weekday" and "weekend" schedules. And you gotta leave wiggle room for unforeseen non-work disasters. If you're the one at home all the time, guess who's taking the car to the shop?
• Go outside at least once a day, or you will turn into a horrible cave troll. And for that matter, get a little exercise daily.
• Designate a work space or work state. You love your family and friends, I know you do, but they need to know that just because you're home doesn't mean you're always available. You need to concentrate like mad for big chunks of the day, and like it or not, that means they need to leave you alone.
• It ain't a hobby any more; it's a job. Treat it like one. Be professional. Be responsible. Be accountable.
• Take the time to get dressed. Seriously, you would not believe how much more productive you will be in a pair of jeans and a comfortable but professional-looking sweater than in those ratty PJs. Slippers are always okay, though.
• Figure out what you need in order to concentrate, but don't let it turn into excuses not to work. You need your Pandora channel set to play mellow jazz hip-hop? All right (it's really a perfect working music, I kid you not). You need 30 minutes of cardio before you can get crackin'? Cool. But don't spend an hour looking for your lucky bobblehead, or rearranging your pencils, before you'll sit down and do something.
• Set realistic productivity goals for yourself, and surpass them as often as you can.

If you find, though, that you wind up looking up from your work and thinking, "Hmm, maybe I should goof off on the Internet for a bit...nah, screw it, I'd rather be doing this," you might have found yourself a job worth sticking to.