Heidi Heilig

Archives for September 17, 2015

Day In The Life of a Debut Author…

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Hey all! So, inspired by the epic Victoria Schwab and her post detailing a day in the life of 18 incredible authors, (such as the fabulous Rae Carson, and the talented Ashley Blake, and of course Ms. Schwab herself!) I thought I’d share a day in my own weird life during this strange time running up to the pub date. (A hypothetical day–an amalgam of days–not a specific day, because sometimes specific days are taken up entirely with watching my phone blow up because I can’t resist running my mouth online.)

So this is A Day In The Life of a Debut Author with a 15 Month Old Baby and also Bipolar Disorder who Is Trying To Promote Book 1, Write Book 2, Outline Book 3, and Fight Injustice*

5:30-6:30am: My day starts when my baby wakes up. He’s 15 months old right now and the three of us live in a tiny studio apartment (less than 400 square feet) so when he’s up, I am immediately aware and I go to him, because my husband stays up late at night to get his own work done. Soon after the baby wakes, there is frantic coffee and baby wrangling and throwing one of 4 “work outfits” onto my person (yes, I wear one twice in one week. Yes, I need to go shopping. I hate shopping. A typical day will NOT include shopping.)

7am: DOUGHNUT

7:05am: I’m on the way to the office, where I work as a receptionist. On quiet days, my day job is my haven. When the phone isn’t ringing and the guests aren’t arriving, I can get some writing done. Currently this includes promotional content for book 1, which comes out in just under 5 months (gulp.) I’ve also had to figure out travel and schedules recently, because there are some book events coming up. I’m also, as mentioned above, trying to fix the problems with Book 2 (I’m on draft 11) and outline book 3.

When I’m stumped on one project, I switch to the next. Unless of course I see something infuriating online, in which case I get some arguing done. I need to get better at time management probably, but it’s also a manic thing for me, to chat and talk somewhat frantically on the internet. Also, bigotry is evil and fighting it is not something I regret.
Lunch happens sometime during this block.
3pm: After my day job, I head right home to do my second job, which is superintendent of the 32-unit building where I live in Brooklyn. I make sure the place is clean, and 3 days a week I haul the building’s trash to the curb. (THE GLAMOROUS AUTHOR LIFE.) Then I go up to my house and hopefully grab a quick shower and do home stuff–make dinner, care for the baby, mop the floor (if you have ever been near a 15 month old you know why mopping the floor is a daily task.)
7:30pm: The small one finally falls asleep and I can write or do internet stuff again. Usually by now my brain is pretty tired (I write best in the morning.)
9pm: Sleeping if I can. My kid is not a great sleeper so I usually wake up with him 2-3 times a night. I try to sleep at least 7 hours total a night because it’s one of the ways I control my bipolar disorder. My husband needs more sleep than I do (yes, medically), so he is not on night duty.
Trying to review this through the eyes of someone who doesn’t live in my skin, I realize that it probably seems like I do very little actual writing. But I am really privileged to have the writing time I do have. I’m lucky to be able to make it work.
And of course, my baby won’t be a terrible sleeper forever. (I HOPE I HOPE)
So, if you are reading this and you are swamped with work and family and medical stuff and you want to be an author, I wish you the luck that I have in finding the time to write. I believe in you!
*it’s kinda specific, sorry–I’m at a bit of a weird place in my life. But i’m betting there are people who can relate.