A Day in the Life of...Verysherryterry!

    Another Monday, another guest! Today's guest is *drumroll* Verysherryterry!

Grab some snacks and fasten your safety gear. This might be a bumpy ride. 

Writing is my passion, my lover, and I spend time with him every day. Working on my own stuff is a different story because procrastination is my muse. I was excited to receive the invitation to participate in this guest blog post. It means I have a valid reason not to work on my own writing. 

Start of day one:

LTUE Overview

    I don't feel much like blogging today, for a few reasons.

1. I've had a really crappy day so far. Let's just say that spilled Dr. Pepper might be something worth crying over.
2. I'm exhausted. I haven't slept in days, and I've been fighting off a migraine since Sunday.
3. It's a distractingly beautiful Spring-like day outside.
4. I've got a lot of pent up creative energy and blogging is not as enticing as some of my other projects.
5. I'm lazy.

    But, I realized I never did a full LTUE overview. I kind of did, but then I got distracted. So now I'm forcing myself to-

A Day in the Life of...Louise Ross!

    Another Monday, another guest! Today's guest is *drumroll* Louise Ross!

Writing: My other, other job

I assume and hope I am not unique in the writing world.

Mental Illness

    Three blog posts in a row? Yep. It's that kind of week. And I still haven't shared any LTUE panels. I've got a lot to say right now, so bear with me. 

I was going to wait until tomorrow to blog this, but it's been weighing on me so much and I couldn't focus on anything until I got this off my chest. Mental Illness is not taboo. We need to talk about it.

    Here's the Grey's Anatomy quote I referenced.

A Day in the Life of...Kristen Kooistra!

    It's Monday, again! Yay! That means it's time for another guest!  This one will be a bit different than the previous posts, because this is our first guest writer who has to balance writing with a family. This week's guest is *drumroll* Kristen Kooistra!

My day officially starts at about 8 am. But I’m usually up twice during the night to take care of my youngest (almost 3 months old). At 8:00, Elaina wakes up and we usually have a chat about how the morning is going to go. Today I’m lucky and she agrees to go back to sleep while I get her siblings.

LTUE 2016

    If you've been following me at all, you know that I spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at LTUE. LTUE stands for Life, the Universe, and Everything. It's a sci-fi and fantasy writing symposium put on by BYU every February. 

    I attended last year and it was overwhelming. I learned so much and it was insanely inspiring, but I was in a totally different place in my life. It was my first time at a convention like that, so I mostly stayed to the back and didn't socialize very much. I was also in the middle of Rose at the time and I was losing momentum quick. I hadn't finished a manuscript, and I thought that all the writers and editors there could see right through me and that they thought I wasn't good enough to be there.

A Day in the Life of...Rebecca N. McKinnon!

    It's Monday again! That means it's time for another guest post! *cheers* This week's guest is *drumroll* Rebecca N. McKinnon!

My name's Rebecca, and I've been a writer all my life. But I definitely haven't written the same way for that entire time. What attracted me to Allie's Day in the Life series was its recognition of that fact. Allie's raw, unedited post says what so many of us need to hear: It's okay to have a life around your writing. In fact, it's expected. We're not word count machines, and creativity rarely walks in through the same door twice. I needed to hear that message over all the loud and intimidating New Years' Resolutions blog posts.

I picked today (Thursday, January 14, 2016) to highlight, because I know I don't have any of my resolutions down to a routine yet. Initially I wanted to wait until a day when I had somehow "gotten my act together". I pictured this incredible day of perfection, which would only be possible if I was my FUTURE SELF. You know, that girl who meets every deadline and exercises daily. Yeah, right. Turns out that 2016 has actually been about self-acceptance for me. Knowing that I've only got PRESENT ME and that FUTURE GIRL is a figment and a distraction. So, here's my day, warts and all:

8AM: I woke up about an hour after I wanted to because I'd relied on my partner Topher's alarm instead of my own, and he'd turned his off in his sleep, so we were both late! :P I walked a few feet over to my home office, which is directly beside my bed. I opened my Moleskine Professional Series Project Planning Notebook (yeah, that's its God-given name, for real) and reviewed the to-do list I'd written the night before: 2 loads of laundry, 1 "weekly" chore, daily chores, make daily routines list, walk Leia 3 miles, crit ch 2 & 3 of Breaking Orbit. I uncapped a nearby pen and started my first "LOG", journaling that,

"Today I'm going to keep track of how I spend my time. I hope this will be a good exercise in control and understanding of self and tasks."

That's pretty standard daily bullet journal reflection crap for me. I make fun of it, but it works. Every day that I consistently review and write in my planner is a good day. It does wonders for my mood.

Free Write #8: A Fairy's Tale

    It's been a while since I've done some free writing, and today I'm battling major Hypergraphia. So it was fairly easy for me to pick a blog post topic today. Originally I wasn't going to pick a prompt, but I had a really hard time channeling my Hypergraphia into something productive. I'll explain at the end. Here's the prompt-

    Iris left the castle's infirmary only to collect herbs for her mother's supplies once a week, so it was no surprise she got lost in the twisting maze of hallways. She passed by dozens of bustling servants, but each time she tried to ask one for directions, they brushed her off and hurried on their way. 
    After another minute, she spotted a boy staring out the window. He wouldn't ignore her. "Excuse me, King Jameson passed away overnight, and I need to find Queen Isadore's chambers to tell her."
    The boy turned to face her.
    Iris recognized him immediately. He had spent every evening in the infirmary at his father's side. "Crown Prince Callister," she gasped and quickly dropped into the lowest curtsy her trousers would allow.

A Day in the Life of...Sarah Kay Moll!

    Hello all! Guess what day today is! That's right, it's the first Monday in February! That means it's time for the very first guest post in my series, "A Day in the Life of..." 

    For this series, there will be a new guest post every Monday until I run out of guests. As always, if you are a writer and want to participate, comment here, or contact me on Facebook or Twitter!

    And now, *drum roll* our very first guest- Sarah Kay Moll!

When I first started reading this blog, it taught me a new word: Hypergraphia. The perfect word for my days, which are shaped by the overwhelming urge to write. 

Sarah Kay Moll, Author