Interview with Author Anne Greene: Business

by Naomi Rawlings

I'd like to welcome author Anne Greene to our blog. Anne was with us on Monday as well, giving advice on working from home. Leave a comment with your email address below to win a copy of Anne's most recent book, Masquerade Marriage.

What was the best time management principle you use that helps you work while your kids were around?

Never look at an email twice. That means handle whatever comes in when it comes in.

How did you entertain your children while working at home?

I love to play games. We played games a lot. I love the outdoors. We spent a good deal of time at parks and zoos and campgrounds. I only wrote when they were sleeping, at school, or at a friend’s house. We traveled together in a twenty-nine foot trailer and stayed at military bases. We did a good bit of historical research when we travelled. I took pictures and made notes. We played tennis and golf. And read good books. All my children love to read. We went to Church, Awana, and Boy Scouts. When they attended church camps I had a whole week to write.

Are there times you regretted working from home? How did you deal with those feelings?

The only thing I regretted from working at home was not getting a pay check. I totally enjoyed my children in the short eighteen-nineteen years they were with me daily. We only have one shot with our children and we need to make the most of that time. When the children skipped off to college, I did too, and graduated the same year as my daughter. I could have chosen a career outside the home at that time. I didn’t. I dove headlong into writing full time and have never regretted my decision.

How did you arrange the physical space in your house so that you have a place to work?

When my kids were napping age, I worked in the bathroom, sitting on a kitchen chair. Later, in a slightly larger home, I set up at the dining room table. Then, in my next home, I had a small room to myself. Now, with all four children scattered to different places I have a large room I share with our pool table. My desk overlooks the upstairs porch and the golf course. My paints, easel, and canvas take up one end of the room. My desk, computer, printer, and reading couch take up the other end. When people want to play pool I gather up all my books, files, and papers from the pool table and we play. It’s pretty ideal.

Did you find times when your work suffered because of your family or vice versa?

When my children were growing up, my work was secondary. I don’t think it suffered, it was the joy and reward I gave myself after caring for my children.

How many hours a day do you work from home?

Now, I usually work six to eight hours a day, and often on Saturday.

Do you have a schedule and always work at the same time every day, or is your work time random and haphazard? Why?

I schedule the work time each day to be six to eight hours. I do my Bible time, exercise, cleaning, cooking, and errands early in the morning and try to get to my desk by ten or eleven. I never stop work before six, except on the two days I have choir. If I have a social or work engagement, I just get to my desk later in the day and work until eleven at night. My brain turns off at eleven pm. I am not a fast writer. Probably on a scale of writers, I would come in near the bottom in terms of speed, so I do put in long hours. It’s hard in the summer when I would rather go out and play.

What's your single, favorite aspect of working from home?

Freedom! I set my own hours to work and to play. If a friend calls, I’m free to talk. If I need more time with the Lord, I’m free to take that time. If I want to work in my pjs, I’m free to wear my pjs. If I want to eat at my desk, I can. If I want to take a walk, I can. If I want to go into my husband’s study and give him a kiss, I can. If I want to go somewhere exciting, I can. The only thing that keeps me at my desk is my passion to write. I love working from home.

About Anne:

ANNE GREENE delights in writing about wounded heroes and gutsy heroines. She writes both historical and suspense novels. After falling in love with several countries and their people, Anne set a number of her books in exotic locations. She and her hero husband, Army Special Forces Colonel Larry Greene, have visited twenty-five countries, including three communist countries. A visit to Scotland resulted in her newest book release, Masquerade Marriage, published by White Rose Publishing. When she’s not deployed with her husband, Anne makes her home in McKinney, Texas. Two of her four children live nearby. Tim LaHaye led her to the Lord when she was twenty-one and Chuck Swindoll is her Pastor. In 1990, Anne graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Literary Studies from the University of Texas, Dallas. Her highest hope is that her stories transport the reader to an awesome new world and touch hearts to seek a deeper spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus. To learn more of Anne and to view pictures from her extensive travel, visit her at AnneGreeneAuthor.com.

About Masquerade Marriage:

A SECRET LIST... To protect his loved ones and escape the dark fate of his brothers, a noted warrior abandons his identity. Hiding from relentless soldiers who want him dead, Brody MacCaulay vows to protect the woman he loves more than life, more than freedom, more than Scotland. But his presence throws her into danger. A VOW HONORED... To escape an arranged marriage to an abusive noble, a Lowland Lady weds a stranger to save his life. But vows spoken do not make a marriage, especially when Megan MacMurry holds a different love inside her heart. A SACRIFICE MADE... Outlawed, and with a price on his head, Brody condemns himself to a life of heartbreak without Megan. Wanting her desperately, knowing he can't have her, he heads alone to certain death...