This Writing Life--Mark Terry

July 6, 2006
Yesterday, aside from the fact it was the first "real" day back to work after a 4-day holiday weekend (although I actually worked 3 or 4 hours on July 4th) was a pretty typical workday for me. The summer schedule is a little different than the yearly one when the kids are in school.

6:45. Drag ass out of bed. Shower.

7:15. Eat breakfast. Read Jack Kerley's "The Death Collectors" while I eat. Do breakfast dishes and brush teeth.

7:45. Walk Frodo.

8:15. In office, checking e-mail, reading blogs, changing links on blog masthead, make blog entry.

8:45. Write book review ("Blown" by Francine Mathews), invoice and send.

9:15. Work on final-ish draft of ANGELS FALLING, the third Derek Stillwater novel.

10:00. Go to post office to mail corrected page proofs of THE DEVIL'S PITCHFORK (the first Derek Stillwater novel). I e-mailed these on the 4th as well. Go to credit union and deposit checks (yeah!).

10:40. Gym.

11:40. Home again. Check on the boys. Check e-mail. Perform a little bookkeeping.

12:00. Lunch. (chicken caesar salad for me; leftover pizza for Ian; leftover BBQ chicken for Sean). The three of us take Frodo for a short walk.

1:00. Back in the office checking e-mail. Make phone calls to set up (or try to) interviews for 5 short news articles I'm working on. No luck getting through to anybody. It's that kind of week.

1:30-4:30. Work on Chapter 2 of nonfiction business report and complete the draft, such as it is. E-mail it and the fine-tuned CHapter 1 to the VP & staff editor with comments.

4:30. Receive e-mail from PR guy at Midnight Ink asking about confirmation of AuthorBuzz materials. I say no confirmation, then go ahead and tweak the materials and send them off to MJ Rose, praying that there is an intelligent merging of materials and the check.

4:50. Fiddle with short story, "11 Minutes," cutting, shifting, tightening, etc.

5:38. Call it a day. Go upstairs and read the newspaper.

The rest is pretty routine life. Ate dinner, did dishes, walked the dog again (he's spoiled), channel surfed, puttered around the house, talked to my wife, checked e-mail again, popped in on Tobias Buckell's blog where he comments on Ken Lay's death ("Karma can be a real bitch."). Read some more. Channel surf a bit (nothing on). Read some more. Get the kids off to bed then go to bed myself.

Best,
Mark Terry

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2006-07-06 8:45 AM Another Typical Day at the Office Previous Entry :: Next Entry Mood: Contemplative Read/Post Comments (4) Share on Facebook	July 6, 2006 Yesterday, aside from the fact it was the first "real" day back to work after a 4-day holiday weekend (although I actually worked 3 or 4 hours on July 4th) was a pretty typical workday for me. The summer schedule is a little different than the yearly one when the kids are in school. 6:45. Drag ass out of bed. Shower. 7:15. Eat breakfast. Read Jack Kerley's "The Death Collectors" while I eat. Do breakfast dishes and brush teeth. 7:45. Walk Frodo. 8:15. In office, checking e-mail, reading blogs, changing links on blog masthead, make blog entry. 8:45. Write book review ("Blown" by Francine Mathews), invoice and send. 9:15. Work on final-ish draft of ANGELS FALLING, the third Derek Stillwater novel. 10:00. Go to post office to mail corrected page proofs of THE DEVIL'S PITCHFORK (the first Derek Stillwater novel). I e-mailed these on the 4th as well. Go to credit union and deposit checks (yeah!). 10:40. Gym. 11:40. Home again. Check on the boys. Check e-mail. Perform a little bookkeeping. 12:00. Lunch. (chicken caesar salad for me; leftover pizza for Ian; leftover BBQ chicken for Sean). The three of us take Frodo for a short walk. 1:00. Back in the office checking e-mail. Make phone calls to set up (or try to) interviews for 5 short news articles I'm working on. No luck getting through to anybody. It's that kind of week. 1:30-4:30. Work on Chapter 2 of nonfiction business report and complete the draft, such as it is. E-mail it and the fine-tuned CHapter 1 to the VP & staff editor with comments. 4:30. Receive e-mail from PR guy at Midnight Ink asking about confirmation of AuthorBuzz materials. I say no confirmation, then go ahead and tweak the materials and send them off to MJ Rose, praying that there is an intelligent merging of materials and the check. 4:50. Fiddle with short story, "11 Minutes," cutting, shifting, tightening, etc. 5:38. Call it a day. Go upstairs and read the newspaper. The rest is pretty routine life. Ate dinner, did dishes, walked the dog again (he's spoiled), channel surfed, puttered around the house, talked to my wife, checked e-mail again, popped in on Tobias Buckell's blog where he comments on Ken Lay's death ("Karma can be a real bitch."). Read some more. Channel surf a bit (nothing on). Read some more. Get the kids off to bed then go to bed myself. Best, Mark Terry Read/Post Comments (4) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top
:: HOME :: GET EMAIL UPDATES :: Mark's official website :: JA Konrath's Blog :: Eric Mayer's Blog :: Lee Goldberg's Blog :: Freelance Success :: Tobias Buckell's blog :: Paul Levine & other authors' blog :: Pete Terry & Electro-Metamorphosis :: Robert Gregory Browne's blog :: Cabbages & Kings--PJ Parrish's blog :: Murderati--buncha authors blogs :: Keith Snyder's blog :: Rick Riordan's blog :: EMAIL ::