At the ripe age of forty, when Alexis Paige was finally diagnosed with ADHD-Inattentive Type, she rolled her eyes even before the doctor could finish spelling out her new marching orders: "The goal now," he said, "is to learn how to work smart, not hard."

"But that doesn't sound like any fun," she said. She was going to have to do this, too-ironically, inexplicably, comically-as she did everything else, the hard way.

Part memoir, part craft guide, Work Hard, Not Smart, shows how Alexis lives her messy literary life. She invites you to step into her mismatched shoes. And if you do, you'll find the writing companion you've been looking for.