OMG! My days are insane. Are yours? I bet they are.
This is the craziest danged life. As I write this, I’m munching on breakfast at my desk. I know—everybody tells you not to do that. We are to savor our meals, one bite at a time, being conscious of what we’re chewing, etc., etc., etc. And sometimes I actually do that. But it’s almost always on weekends J
Arose at 5:30 this morning, as usual, fed dogs and got coffee. Thank God for coffee! Did you know it’s good for your heart? They just came out with that study. Love those studies. They make me happy 🙂
Then even if it’s freezing outside, I travel into the oven-hot world of my fictitious vineyard, to see what Gwyn and Ruth and the rest of my characters are up to this morning. It’s grape-picking season! Even in the coolest part of the pre-dawn, the heat covers us like a dome. But nobody cares! We’re picking Muscat Canelli grapes and volunteers are arriving! Along with folks who will bring this story to a tumultuous climax.
Done with writing them for today (although they’re never far from my consciousness), with breakfast in hand I write this blog. What fun!
Then I’ll post and twitter out. LOL. Gotta find just the right image before—don’t you love looking through images? Then I’ll load new blogs to get ready to post. Planning. Always planning. At least my blogging coach Renee is!
Email comes next, editorial clients seeking help with this or that. Some on revisions with questions about what works best, as we hash out different scenes and scenarios. Some to the agenting stage as we hone-in on the exact right one. How I love to see them succeed!
Of course I’ve gotten up fifteen times to let Labradors in and out by now 🙂
This will all take me to lunchtime. Man, where did the morning go? Been at the desk for nearly 6 hours, give or take those minutes loving on dogs. Gotta love on dogs.
A quick lunch and watching the noon weather. I’m a weather junky. It makes me happy! Even though they’re never right. Well, rarely anyway.
Then off to edit. My afternoons are spent curled up in my chair with someone’s manuscript, sifting through and ferreting out the demons and paring it down to its essence, along with ways to bring the characters to life and streamline the plot. Sometimes talk with a client as well.
And somewhere in there, stop for a bit to meditate and pray. The most vital part of my day! It’s the thing that keeps me centered in this crazy world.
By now it’s closing in on 6, and I’ve been working twelve hours or so. Whew! Gotta get the old body moving so first to train dogs and then do some exercise. Once I lifted weights and ran. Now I do Pilates and walk dogs! The joys of being gentle with the self 🙂
Then comes the boring part of stuff you have to do. You know, shower, laundry, supper, etc., etc. I’m often reminded of the Buddhist saying: “Before enlightenment, carrying water, chopping wood. After enlightenment, carrying water, chopping wood.”
Mundane but without it we starve!
Ah, an hour or so to relax! My eyes tend to be too tired to read, so what’s on the boob tube? Oh, yeah! I have that anniversary edition of Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth! Can’t see that too many times!
And what a nice place that will put me in to dream . . .
What’s your day like?