I tend to be a tidy person in my relationships. I keep my work life away from my writing life away from my personal life. I keep my friends segregated on Facebook, so they don’t overlap. For the most part that works well.

I find that any time I get publicity things get messy. Like this week. There was a very complimentary article about me and how I won the Anthony in the local paper. My students all saw it and started bringing it in. Suddenly I’m talking about my writing in class. I try to walk a fine line that I never give a sales pitch at school. I don’t want to make any student think that they have to read my book. I do talk to them about the importance of writing though.

Plus for all my marketing expertise, I try not to sound too proud or boastful. It’s hard when there’s a big article in front of you all about how you won an award, but I do try. I remind myself of all the authors who never won an award, and I am humbled.

So this week has been one of those muddied weeks. I’ve been answering emails from parents and questions from students. In one sense it’s fun, but I do like my tidy life.

Now my desk on the other hand is a different matter. I was on a conference call on Sunday night. I had nothing to do while a customer service rep did a remote access on my computer, so I sat there for 45 minutes and then decided to clean my desk. It’s now possible to see brown in spots and I can easily reach my supplies. Not a bad thing at all.

The thing that lingers on my desk is a copy of Windows 7. My next project is to convert my machine. After Vista this should be a treat. We’ll see. The latest Mac commercial has me uneasy.