I love this. Here is what the author said about loneliness:

“Writing can be a lonely business. But gradually your characters, or the scenes and people from your past, begin to rise up around you, and you find yourself writing your way out of loneliness, writing your own company. And you’ll find yourself at dinner some evening telling your family or friends, “Well, Natalie really made a mess of things today” or “I can’t believe what John said about Kathryn’s dog.” And everyone will look at you mystified because Natalie and John and Kathryn – and the dog – reside only in your head; you’ve made them up.”

I’ve actually had conversations like this with a fellow writer friend. She tells me all the time how this character or that character has been talking to her and just won’t shut up. For me, I think this is a normal thing we do as writers. However, our family and friends may not think of it as normal and might give you a strange look.

My kids love hearing about the characters from my fiction novel. They love hearing me read it out loud. As a matter of fact my daughter (niece) has been influenced in such a way that she wants to be a writer when she grows up. She is nine. To know that through my writing I’ve been able to influence her in this way is pretty kewl. To know you can impact a life in any way like that can be so humbling.