Brought to you with the combined efforts of Queen on Spotify repeat, a combination of pain killers and copious cups of tea.
Normally I’d be out of the house at 6 am to go swimming – good for my knee and ongoing fight with weight loss… but, my shoulder/neck is incredibly sore today (chiropractor has fixed, I’m just waiting for everything to realign.) and that equals headaches, and all I really want to do is curl into a ball and sleep. LOL… so yeah, I picked a weird day to do this time tracking thing.
8:00am – 9:00am
Matt is still asleep – today is Lindengate day, so he is at home until about 11 ish, which means I will likely be interrupted for hugs and chats at various points.
Today I want to get a chapter for Benoit (Owatonna 3) back to Vicki – 2,500 words or so. Breakfast is done, and now I have until 9am to ‘faff’. This is me checking emails, sales data, planning the day, checking FB messages, logging into Slack, and looking at the project list in Asana for jobs I need to do today.
For me, writing is more than just putting words to paper; it’s a business. At the moment I have a new release (Italian Texas 3), planning for RARE Rome, and tomorrow I’m in Southampton to talk about self-publishing to a chapter of the RNA so I have things to print off for that. I also have marketing to look at, scheduled posts to go live, a FB party to create images for, and somewhere in there, I am working on my website on a brand new shelving system that cross-references my books.
I use an app called SelfControl on my Mac to block out Facebook, Twitter, etc and I always start it for four hours of social media silence.
I listen to a playlist that is on repeat throughout the day and I use headphones. This means I have a level of white noise that allows me to focus. I can’t listen to new music, it has to be stuff I know all the words to, and today the playlist is a Queen/Freddie M grouping after seeing Bohemian Rhapsody 🙂
I just wish my neck would crack because my head really hurts. Sobs.
9:00-11:49 – AIM – Benoit – 2500-3000 words on Chapter for Owatonna 3 – 25 minute writing sprints on Benoit
Sprint 1 Aim 500 – actual word count 977 (well, that flowed)
Now a cup of tea is needed – it’s always needed… this is cup of tea #3 for today
Sprint 2 Aim 500 – actual word count 491 (interrupted… sips cooling tea)
OH NO! Vicki, Meredith and Rachel all appeared on Slack… I must talk to them, I don’t want to be rude…
And OH NO! Matt is up and making noise… waits for him to visit 🙂
Matt tells me he is cleaning out his fridge this morning. That won’t go wrong at all. (Thinks about last time when he took the element things out as well). encourages him to consider not taking the fridge apart completely
Talks to V about the Boston Tea Party… don’t ask… and chats to Meredith about movies and TV… both chats are vitally important to me, given I sit in the office on my own all day. Well, apart from Steve (hubby) being downstairs in his study doing finance stuff for the company.
Meanwhile, there is a LOT of banging from Matthew’s kitchen. I wonder if I should just pop up there… BRB …
…Back …it’s okay, apparently, Matt’s not taking out the element things… because “I’M NOT STUPID, MUM” his words, not mine.
And now, back to writing… “Alexa set a timer for twenty-five minutes.” Spends a short while considering if I should add please to the end of that instruction.
Now, I’m spending some time with Meredith ganging up on Vicki because she is an American. It’s the usual stuff of a Tuesday morning… her response “Fine but don’t be surprised when y’all get crates of tea for Xmas” Don’t ask…
And now Rachel has arrived… her opening message “It’s ok everyone, don’t panic, I’m here LOL!”… then we discussed as Brits, how Vicki threw the tea, in hushed and horrified tones
Then Meredith reminds us, she doesn’t drink tea, “*puts the milk in first …. am I doing it right?” and Rachel and I are horrified all over again.
And I realize I REALLY need to get back to writing…
Restarts Alexa
Sprint 3 Aim 500 – actual word count 626 – interrupted by a report on how fridge cleaning is going. “It’s done.”
I think I need another cuppa… and it’s been an hour, right… it’s okay… BRB …
…Back with cup 4…
Sprint 4 Aim 500 – actual word count 577
And the first draft of the chapter is done at 2671 words… re-reading…
Added another 444 words… total for chapter is 3,115, and I’m sending it to Vicki right now. And now… looks at clock… I’m sure it must be time for another cup of tea…
Steve has explained how we need to buy Matt a new fridge… Matt is kind of excited and is off to Lindengate now, but likely looking up the BIGGEST fridge he can get. Shame his roof slopes… cue imaginative fridge research.
12:00 – 14:00
Wrote with Vicki on a blog post about plot bunnies (of which we have way too many!).
Planning on Montana Sky (Montana 6)
Lunch (ten minutes)
And back…
14:00 – 18:00
I need to create an order page for my Italian paperbacks – I’m at RARE Roma in September so I need that set up. Opens Google Forms
OMG… Closes google forms when I realize I first need to do my March newsletter AND create graphics for Bodyguards Inc going into KU… AND printing final handouts for tomorrow’s session on Self Publishing
Newsletter scheduled for Saturday, graphic for Bodyguards Inc into KU created.
Notes to do another time: Order form for Italian books, upload Scott for the buy links I already included in my newsletter… GAH
18:00 – 18:30
Clear down the higgledy-piggledy mess of files on my desktop, and do a backup on my website. I try to keep my Mac desktop clear and tidy, and do a website backup at least once a week.
18:30, and I’m done… and knackered, but looking forward to tomorrow’s trip to Southampton.
I lost track of my tea count… seven maybe… LOL
I just wish this ******* headache would go away.
I knew you were a busy person, but wow. Looking at a computer screen for long periods of time causes eye strain and will cause headaches. See if you can sneak in a little time to maybe just go look out the window. If you can’t, try looking off into the distance a bit more, anything to let your eyes focus somewhere else.
You have a lot of devoted fans. I can promise you we won’t be mad if you take some extra time to get a book out. I know we all seem to push when you mention you are working on something new, but we will still be here if it takes the extra time to keep you healthy.
Hope you have a great time at your talk. Would you consider recording some of them sometime and letting us hear what you have to say.
Take care of yourself, my friend.
Wow! Crazy busy!
Hope your head is feeling better.
Good luck to Matt on the fridge hunt.
Hugs