MamaWriters are thrilled to have bestselling historical romance author Julianne Maclean with us today, chatting about being an author, a mom and her biggest support, her husband!

Julianne MacLean Celebrates Great Husbands Who Support All MamaWriters!

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I’m a mom and a published romance author – and yes, it’s tough to fit it all in.  I wrote my first published book while I was pregnant with my daughter, and finished it two weeks before I delivered (at that time, I hadn’t sold it yet.)  Talk about a firm deadline!  That one was self-imposed.

I had my baby, and still, it was almost 18 months before I sold that book (Prairie Bride), but I wrote another in the meantime (The Marshal and Mrs. O’Malley), which eventually sold as well.

I managed to do all that with the support of my husband and Monster Super Dad, Stephen, who took our baby girl for fun field trips, even when she was a newborn.  He didn’t shy away from diapers or bottles. On a Saturday afternoon, he’d take her to the mall in the stroller or walking in the park, or he’d take her to visit friends, while I got some valuable words down on the page.

He still does that today.  Our daughter is twelve years old now, and tomorrow he’s taking her skiing.  They’ve always made an effort to find things to do together, and they are very close because of that.  Laura does things with her dad, and those things are so much more exciting than the things she does with me ☺.  He’s like her own personal version of Disney World, and it’s a great load off my shoulders when he walks through the door and plans the next entertaining excursion.

I’m am THRILLED that Laura has such a close relationship with him, and I wonder if that would have been possible if I had always been there… hovering… taking charge… or was merely present for all Saturday afternoon activities.  From birth, she learned to rely on him, and our parenthood together is truly shared.  Daddy is not in the background.  He’s up front, and because of that, our daughter is equally close to both of us.when-a-stranger-loves-me-website

If not for him, this writing career would have been sooo much harder, because anyone who works at home knows that the workday never really ends.  If your office is at home, it’s always there, beckoning, and that doesn’t always work well with motherhood, which is also a twenty-four hour-a day job.

So I want to devote this blog to all the supportive husbands out there who are Family Men.  They drive the kids to basketball practice, and do the pick-up, too.  They rent a movie and make popcorn, while Mom works late nights to meet a deadline.  They cook dinner and deliver it to Mom on a tray when the deadline panic really sets in, and they put the babies to bed.

These are the true heroes who inspire us to write about men of integrity – the kinds of men who are our true-life Prince Charmings.  These are the ones who last for years and years beyond the happy sigh of the last page when the characters say, “I do.”

I am grateful for my Prince Charming, and for all the wonderful things he does.

Do YOU have a great guy who deserves a Prince Charming Trophy, too?  What has he done that’s extra special?  I hope you’ll share.