What
Do Authors Do All Day?
It always makes
me smile when I speak at an event or do any kind of author appearance, and
someone approaches to ask me what it’s like being an author. Many people have
this grandiose idea in their mind. Somehow, the writer gets sensationalized or
elevated to this mysterious pedestal, staring into empty space while the rest
of the world fades away.
The reality?
Despite all my
best-laid plans, a typical day doesn’t contain much writing at all! Surprised
to learn that? Most non-writers usually are. For the majority of authors (not
the 1% who actually make a full-time living on their writing like Dean Koontz
or Nora Roberts), it’s not like the “9-5” job where you leave your home, go to
work, focus on that work, then return home. When you’re a writer, your job and
your work intertwine with your real life. If you’re also a parent with children
at home, your family is thrown into the mix as well.
For me, this
means waking up at 5:45 or 6am every morning so I can snatch a few quiet
moments before everyone else is awake. Then, it’s turning myself into a drill
sergeant as I attempt to get the kids and the husband moving in the right
directions toward getting ready for the day. Ever heard the phrase about the
challenge of herding cats? Yep. That’s spot on for my mornings.
Once everyone is
out the door to work or school, that’s when I can sit down and write. Ha!
That’s when I do the clean-up following the tornado that happened during the
morning routine. It never ceases to amaze me how three people (husband and two
kids) can make such a mess in such a short amount of time.
After the
cleanup, I spend time with email correspondence. Otherwise, my inbox gets out
of control! This could include following up with my agent on proposals out with
potential publishers, scheduling coffee/tea dates with friends, interacting
with teachers about the status of my children in school, confirming volunteer
sign-ups for various activities, paying bills, and a host of other
possibilities. This could also include business phone calls. And within this
past year, I have also added being a substitute or guest teacher in our local
school district, primarily at my children’s school.
On days when I’m
not teacher, if I don’t have any early appointments that day, there are days
when I get a good solid 2 hours of writing. Once my children are home again at
3:30, it’s focus back on family again until bedtime at eight. Then, there’s
time with my husband discussing what needs to be done or handled and planning
for the next day. If that all gets done, and I’m not mentally or physically
exhausted, I MIGHT be able to squeeze in another thirty minutes or an hour of
writing before I hit the hay.
So, there you
have it. It might not be typical for every writer, but it IS the typical day
for me. When I first started writing, I was single, so I had a lot more
flexibility in my schedule. Now, I have learned to schedule my writing time
just like I schedule anything else in my life. When I have a book deadline, the
writing becomes a higher priority, and other things in life get rescheduled or
shifted a little further down the list.
I have often
questioned why God gave me a career before a husband and family, and I know
somewhere in here, He *does* have a purpose, in spite of my career temporarily
taking a back seat to my family and the challenging demands that presents. It
will be fun seeing how His purpose unfolds through all this present craziness.
GIVEAWAY
Thanks for
visiting with me today, and many thanks to Clare for hosting me. As
appreciation, I am offering a giveaway
of a FREE ELECTRONIC COPY of my book in the Smoky Mountain Christmas collection, HOMETOWN MELODIES. All you
have to do is visit my web site (www.tiffanyamberstockton.com) and find the
name of the very first book I published.
Also, what is the name of the collection
released with my first 3 books included?
About
Smoky Mountain Christmas
Claude Buchanan
is turning 80. Ida Buchanan wants her husband to have an 80th birthday he’ll
never forget. His one request is for all their children and grandchildren to be
there for the party. They have four sons, and each one has a daughter—the
heroines in each of the novellas. The cousins all share the last name of
Buchanan. All four young women left Gatlinburg, Tennessee in the last few
years—for reasons specific to each—and moved to another area or state. For that
reason, they don’t want to return for the party. But because they love their
grandparents, they do. Returning home forces each young woman to deal with what
caused her to leave in the first place, and in each case, opens the door to
true love. The birthday party takes place in Granddaddy and Granny Buchanan’s
barn on Christmas Eve, and each of the four novellas end that same day, just
prior to the party, which is featured in the epilogue accompanying the last
book in the series.
Available at
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Smoky-Mountain-Christmas-Delia-Latham-ebook/dp/B07L9JQY3B/?tag=eagledesigns-20
About
Hometown Melodies
Melody May
Buchanan left Gatlinburg to pursue a life in the symphony. When a letter
arrives asking her to return home for her granddaddy’s 80th birthday, she knows
she must go. Leaving her fiancé in Denver while the symphony is on break, she
pushes behind her the reasons she left and heads home. But the homecoming isn’t
quite what she expected, and she’s immediately faced with everything she loved
about growing up there…even her childhood best friend, Drew. Old feelings
surface, and she starts to wonder if she made a mistake. Then, her two worlds
collide when her fiancé arrives, and she discovers Drew has become quite a
success in the music industry. Faced with the dilemma of which path to choose,
Melody turns to God and her grandfather for advice. Either way, one man will
get hurt. Which option is the best?
Available at
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Hometown-Melodies-Smoky-Mountain-Christmas-ebook/dp/B00PXMXUI4/?tag=eagledesigns-20
BIO
Tiffany Amber
Stockton has been crafting and embellishing stories since childhood, when she
was accused of having a very active imagination and cited with talking entirely
too much. Today, she has honed those childhood skills to become a best-selling
author and speaker who
is also an advocate for literacy as an educational consultant with
Usborne Books.
She lives with
her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton,
along with their two children and three dogs in Colorado. Through personal
development, she strives to help others become their best from the inside out.
She has sold
twenty-one (21) books so far and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the
Steve Laube Agency. You can find her on Facebook
and GoodReads
and at her web site above.
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