YOU MAY BE A WRITER IF...

…you spellcheck the grocery list, and you describe each item: plump tomatoes the red-orange hue of a western sunset;

…you have to read your email twice because, the first time, you focused on grammar and punctuation;

…you enter a bookstore with the same reverence as when you walk into church;

…you then stand over the ‘new arrivals’ table with much the same expression as someone gazing through the nursery window at the maternity ward;

…a friend is telling you about their most recent family tragedy, and you are simultaneously envisioning an opening paragraph;

…on your day off, you are still in your pj's and in front of the computer at three p.m.;

... and your UPS or FedEx delivery man begins to think you have a chronic illness;

…you have mastered the art of reading an agent's rejection letter while bearing an aloof smile;

…some of your family members ask, "So, how's that hobby of yours going?" followed by, "Any leads on a new job?"

…your Feng Shui book has gotten lost beneath the stacks of ‘how to’ writing books and manuscripts in the process of being edited. (Did I forget to mention the stack of rejection letters?);

…you carry a printed copy of your most recent work so that you'll have something to do while waiting in line—edit, edit, edit;

…you turn on the computer, just to check email, and, three hours later, you have an outline for your next masterpiece;

...you actually 'listen' to the people in your head and quote them.