Probably the question I get asked most frequently when I do book signings is "How do you manage to write fiction when you have a full-time job?" I've often thought the question should be "Why do you manage to write fiction when you have a full-time job?" Because there are moments when it seems insane to be writing a book a year while running Cosmopolitan magazine--and parenting two teenagers.

But if you're like me - and I suspect you are since you're reading this - you fantasized for years about writing books. From the time I was little I had a secret dream to publish a mystery series, and I just hated to think I was never going to get around to it. For financial reasons, going on a sabbatical from my job as editor-in- chief of Cosmopolitan wasn't an option (and besides, who would want to give up writing cover lines like "Mattress Moves So Hot His Thighs Will Burst into Flames"?), so one day I decided to take the plunge regardless of the fact that my plate was heaped pretty high.

At first I was crazed, but over time I've learned a handful of tricks that have made writing my books easier. I've also relied on a few nifty time-management strategies that I came across while writing articles on the subject back in my twenties. If there's a book you're dying to write, but you're not sure how the heck you can pull it off, some of these tips may proof useful.

• Don't keep waiting for the right moment or you'll wait forever, but accept that there are some stages in life when it's next to impossible to pull off a book.
I could never have written fiction when my kids were small. My life as a working mom was just too nutty.

My husband worked nights, making it even trickier because there was no one to lend a hand at critical moments in the evenings. My husband Brad and I were laughing lately as we recalled one incident from the time our firstborn was about a year old.

Brad called one night to see how things were going and I gave him a short recap: "Fine, fine," I said. "I took Hudson for a walk in the park and then we ran to the grocery store and then we had dinner and now we're just hanging out at home, playing on the floor." There was a long, odd pause and finally my husband announced quietly, "Kate, his name is Hunter."

It seems funny now, but it also reflects the fact that there were always a few blown out fuses in my brain back then. Not only would it have been impossible for me to write a book, but also I wouldn't have wanted to sacrifice any parenting time.

Today, however, it's a different story. My kids are 15 and 17 and they sleep till noon on Saturday and Sunday. Tolkien could write another Lord of the Rings trilogy in a writing block this big.

Just know that there are some periods in life that you simply will have to view as your prologue to being a writer.

• Find a genre that will pull you like a magnet.
When I was younger, I made a stab at literary fiction and I used to dread my writing time. It had about as much allure as washing out two-weeks worth of pantyhose by hand.

When, years later, I decided to try the crime genre, my agent suggested stand-alone thrillers because they have the potential for big sales, but I opted to do a whodunit instead. It just had more appeal for me and I wanted to do everything in my power this time to make my computer beckon me each day—or at least not repel me.

And it does beckon (for the most part) because I really do enjoy writing mysteries. Though my mysteries have a contemporary protagonist (Bailey Weggins), they're really what are called cozies--classic whodunits with lots of suspects, clues and red herrings.

I get a huge kick from working out the puzzle in the plot, laying down the clues and doing everything in my power to keep the reader guessing. I'm not saying that writing isn't arduous and tedious at times, but the mystery element somehow pulls me along, keeps me from hitting the snooze button too many times on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

So experiment a bit with different types of fiction (as well as the first person versus the third) until you find the one that's the most seductive. For instance, maybe the police procedural would hold appeal for you because you're a nut for details. You don't have much time so you really need to want to spend it on your book.