Sun Hat NOT Included

Being an author is an amazing job. I get to create worlds and characters. I get to tell stories that will whisk my readers away. I could work in a cave with my computer as the only light source.

I never thought the ability to work while hiding in a cave would be the biggest selling point.

Fun fact: I was diagnosed with lupus twelve years ago. Not so fun fact: apparently I'm now light intolerant. And not just sunlight. Fluorescent light.

You know...the kind of lights that are in grocery stores, doctors' offices, and rehearsal studios. Like the rehearsal studios I have to be in for my job as a musical theatre performer.

Yep, I can get hives on my face from standing under the wrong manmade lights.

I'm still in the process of figuring out how to, I don't know, manage life while avoiding fluorescent lights. My doctor's best recommendation was to wear a floppy hat in rehearsal. I'm using sunscreen every two hours, even inside, which earns you some super weird looks, but hopefully it will help.

Figuring out that being a cave hermit might actually be my best bet has given me a new appreciation for "going into the editing cave." At least I have one career that doesn't require the ability to be out in the sunlight.

Except for research trips. And bookstore trips. And...survival.

Autoimmune disease sucks. Send more coffee. FML