A Day in the Life of...H. L. Burke!

    It's Monday, again! Know what that means? It's time for another guest post! This week's guest is *drumroll* H. L. Burke!

Hello, I am H. L. Burke and I'm a military spouse, mother of two superhero princesses, guardian of a ginger cat and a German Shepherd … oh and I write. A lot. 

I wrote all time from middle school onward but sort of quit when my first daughter was born.

It took four years for me to find my creative voice again after motherhood, not because I felt stagnant but because being a mom was so fulfilling that it kind of consumed my thoughts … and also because I was still finding my feet as a mother, a wife, a constant mover, and even an adult.

A Day in the Life of...Heather Hayden!

    It's Monday again! Yay! That means we get another guest! Today's guest is *drumroll* Heather Hayden!

Hi everyone! I’m Heather, an author of science fiction and fantasy who spends most of her time in her imagination rather than the real world.…that sounded a lot blander on paper than in my head. Here, have a picture instead:

When I signed up for Allie’s blog series, I forgot how much I hate having my picture taken… (Apologies for the bad quality, but my iPod has a crappy camera, my sister currently has my actual camera, and my computer screen reflected in my glasses when I tried to use the computer’s camera. Sigh. At least my smile looks semi-normal for once.)

A Day in the Life of...Steven Partridge!

    It's Monday! Whoo! You know what that means? Another guest! Hooray! Today's guest is *drumroll* Steven Partridge!

Greetings, everyone! I'm Steven Partridge (yes, as in the bird). 

Thanks so much for having me, Allie. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a writer/blogger with a propensity for blending genres in my writing.

A Day in the Life of...Ronna Jojola!

    It's Monday! That means it's time for another guest! Today's guest is *drumroll* Ronna Jojola!

My days typically begin at 5:00am. Except lately my typical day has been starting at exactly 4:15 each morning. A month or so ago a chicken moved into our back yard. We have no idea where it came from. We don’t exactly live in chicken raising country (not that know what that is, I just know it’s not in my back yard). We live right in the middle of one of the most urban areas in the country. The closest I ever get to a farm is the farmers market on Saturdays. So the chicken was a bit of a novel idea.

A Day in the Life of...Renee Harvey!

    It's Monday again! Yay! That means it's time for another guest! Today's guest is *drumroll* Renee Harvey!

Good morning, world!

It’s 5:35 a.m. and I am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and ready for this Saturday!

A Day in the Life of...Elise Edmonds!

    It's Monday again! That means it's time for another guest! Yay! Today's guest is *drumroll* Elise Edmonds!

Hi everyone, and thanks, Allie, for inviting me over to Hypergraphia! I'm Elise, and I'm normally found over on my blog, Magic Writer.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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

My Writing Process

    I thought I'd try something new today! I recorded myself talking instead of writing it all down for you. I talk a bit more about the "A Day in the Life of..." series, and then I talk about my writing process. I'm highly distracted (thanks, Astrid!) and very rambly, but it was still fun! Tell me what you think!

I'm testing out videos for my blog (www.alliemayauthor.blogspot.com) to see the difference between me rambling in video form versus me rambling in writing form. Tell me what you think! If someone could keep track of how many times I say, "Umm" or "So, yeah", that would be awesome.

A Day in the Life of...Allie May!

    I announced a few weeks ago that I was planning on having some guest posts on my blog. I want to hear about different writer's routines! But instead of all that edited advice we always hear from famous people, I want it to be honest. What do you actually do when you're trying to write? How long do you actually spend writing? And if you say you don't get distracted, then we know you're lying and we're all judging you for it.
    But it doesn't seem fair at all to embarrass everyone else and not myself, so I'm giving you my daily routine as an example. Starting with when I woke up, what music I listened to, and an hourly play by play of my day so you know how often I was distracted and interrupted.