Thank-you, Sally. It depends on what you mean by extended time. If I have a few hours, usually it's at least four or five, it's enough for me to centre myself and get into a creative frame of mind. I dislike (and protest against) being interrupted once I've started writing. Even a brief interruption can be a setback. I've discussed this with my partner and, for the most part, he's pretty good about observing it. It's not the same as living alone, but we are making it work.

The other thing I'm discovering is that I wasn't always doing creative things when I lived alone--I spent considerable time arranging social events with friends and, sometimes, battling bouts of feeling blue. There's far less of that now.

Nothing's perfect, adaptation is, I think, the key.