#writehealthy

#dayinthelifeofadeadliningauthor post nine: It's not my birthday but I still get a present! Hubs and I have this deal where whenever I write 7000 words, I get a prize that he picked out and wrapped. They're just little things but it brings some fun to the process. I'm keeping the prize pile in my office so I can look up at them and feel motivated when the writing gets tough. Today, I unwrapped a few dark chocolate salted caramels. Not the healthiest prize but I figure if I ration them through the next 7000 words, I'll be just fine. 😁 #writehealthy #writehappy

#dayinthelifeofadeadliningauthor post seven: Lunch break time! I've written 1,079 words so far today. This I get to do means a load of laundry and eat a quick Parmesan crusted omelet with pico and thick cut uncured bacon. (I told you I'm grateful for bacon!) Rounding it out with some sliced cucumbers. I love having presliced veggies around. They're easy to grab instead of my kids' snacks. I'm playing on social media while I eat, and hubs watches an episode of Young Justice in the background. Hubs says if I can get to 2K words by 2:45pm, he'll drag his cold-addled self out of bed and do carpool pickup for me. This would be awesome since picking up the kids from two different schools takes a whole hour out the day. I love that hubs is always issuing me little challenges like this or buying me small prizes for hitting word count goals. I'm making this a quick break so I can make that 2K challenge. #writehealthy #writehappy

#dayinthelifeofadeadliningauthor post six: Then I mess around on Instagram because authors are nothing if not procrastinators. But alas, I actually have to write that chapter now. I've put my butt in my chair and I've opened the document--which is often the hardest part of my day. See you during my lunch break! #writehealthy #writehappy

#dayinthelifeofadeadliningauthor post five: Next is the most important part of the day--assembling writing snacks! Today I'm having strawberries, Chocolove extreme dark chocolate, and roasted cashews. (The book is what I'll get to reward myself with reading at the end of the day.) #writehealthy #writehappy

#dayinthelifeofadeadliningauthor post three: After my gratitude journal, I know I need to center my mind and stop telling myself that I can't write this chapter so do a 10 minute meditation session with my favorite app: Simply Being. Afterwards, I listen to the calming meditation music and do some affirmations--telling myself that "I am strong, confident, and powerful. I *can* write the chapter I need to write today." (And now try not to feel super silly sharing with my readers that I do daily affirmations like Stuart Smiley.) After this 15 minutes, I'm feeling much better a about what I need to accomplish. #writehealthy #writehappy

Mostly to amuse myself but also because I get a lot of questions about my routine (and also what I eat) I thought it might be fun to do a Day in the Life of a Deadlining Author--in all its no makeup, pajama-clad, manic-my-book-is-due-in-one-week glory. Consider this post one: My day started at 7am when I got up to get the boys off to school in two different directions. While making lunches and encouraging kids to actually brush their teeth, I check my email to make sure there's nothing urgent in my inbox. I get back to the house at 8:25am and commence having a freak out because I need to write the hardest part of the book today--and I just don't wanna do it! Hubby, who is home sick, tries to give me a pep talk but I'm kinda a turd because all his nice words don't change the fact that I'm the only one who can write this %#$@ chapter. Then I convince myself that the only way I'm going to get through today is to stick to my routine. (And apparently document it for you all.) #dayinthelifeofadeadliningauthor #writehealthy #writehappy