Finally, the weather has changed. It's raining, it's pouring. Gone are the hot summer days of walking barefoot on the grass. Enter the knits and boots.

Autumn is certainly my favourite season, perhaps because I am heading that way myself, but also because I love the mildness of it all. The crisp morning air, the gentle warmth of the afternoon sun and once in a while a cleansing shower. Just enough of everything to make you appreciate the wonders of the elements. Perhaps autumn teaches us in its own way what scientists, doctors and dieticians are trying to tell us all the time: A little bit of everything is good.

So that's what I have decided to do for myself this year. No more stressing about too much of this and too little of that. Instead I will enjoy everything life has to offer. I will not deprive myself of pleasure, but I will also not over-indulge. Instead I will be gentler on myself than I have ever been and do little bits of everything...

I am often asked how one becomes a writer. I don't like this question, because the answer is so simple it seems unbelievable: You become a writer by writing. You don't become a writer by talking about your great idea, you don't become a writer by wishing for it. No, you become a writer by sitting down and doing the work. There is no magic formula.

You need to make sense out of the chaos in your head, then let it  flow from your brain to your fingertips and onto a page. Again and again until your story has been told. You need to accept that the world owes you nothing. Life does not stop because you want to write. The chores stay the same, the bills still come and your children need you as much as children do.

Another thing you need to accept is that writing will probably not make you rich. Most writers have to supplement their income by doing other things like teaching or editing.

So if you think writers live an idyllic life, far removed from wordly demands, think again. Writing is hard work in itself. Writing while keeping all the balls in the air is harder still. That's why I don't think I am a writer as much as I am a juggler.