This Writing Life--Mark Terry

July 31, 206
Because of a black hole of a business report I'm working on--essentially a book length work of nonfiction--with all my other jobs, I've been doing some work on the weekends. I'm also heading out of town next week and although I'll probably take the computer and some files, how much work I'll actually get done--or want to get done--will be questionable. Still, it wasn't all work, but I thought it might show an odd snapshot of a strange day in a writer's life.

8:30. Wake up. Later than expected. Watch "Good Morning, America" until 9:00.

9:00. Go out and get the newspaper and see if one of my reviews was in it. It was. "Blown" by Francine Mathews.

Eat breakfast. Take Frodo for a walk. Shower. Leanne takes the kids grocery shopping. Usually she just takes Ian, but Sean wanted to go.

11:00. At computer. Trying to figure out how to do a mail merge. I have a database of 1900+ independent bookstores in an Excel file and I needed to import them into Word and create labels so I can do a mailing of the brochure for THE DEVIL'S PITCHFORK. I've never done it before and I wasn't having any luck.

12:20. Leanne & kids get back home. I help unload groceries. We go out to lunch at Big Boys.

1:30. Back home. Kids go swimming. I'm back at the computer working on the mail merge.

3:00. Eureka! Got it to work. I now have mailing labels for slightly over 1900 independent bookstores, 600+ libraries (and counting), and several hundred more of people who have bought previous books of mine and Michigan bookstores, indie or chain.

3:00-4:00. Go upstairs and read for a while. "The One Percent Doctrine," an absolutely appalling nonfiction book about the War on Terror.

4:00. Back to the office working on the business report. Finish the section I was working on.

5:30. Take a bunch of newsletters and a pad of paper and go upstairs to the dining room table. Start going through them looking for financial data regarding independent labs for the business report.

7:00 or so. Finish collating. Put on swim suit, load kayak onto truck and we all go out to Stoney Lake Park to kayak for a while. Quiet night.

8:45. Home again. Fix some dinner. Do dishes. Pick up yard a bit.

9:20. Read. "Spy" by Tim Bell.

10:00. Go to bed.

Note: I didn't get to work on any fiction. I'm working on the rewrite of ANGELS FALLING, but didn't have a chance today because I was dicking around with the mail merge for THE DEVIL'S PITCHFORK promotion. Next time, at least, I'll know what I'm doing... unless Microsoft changes their programming...

Best,
Mark Terry

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2006-07-31 8:42 AM Sunday, Day of Rest--Not! Previous Entry :: Next Entry Mood: Contemplative Read/Post Comments (2) Share on Facebook	July 31, 206 Because of a black hole of a business report I'm working on--essentially a book length work of nonfiction--with all my other jobs, I've been doing some work on the weekends. I'm also heading out of town next week and although I'll probably take the computer and some files, how much work I'll actually get done--or want to get done--will be questionable. Still, it wasn't all work, but I thought it might show an odd snapshot of a strange day in a writer's life. 8:30. Wake up. Later than expected. Watch "Good Morning, America" until 9:00. 9:00. Go out and get the newspaper and see if one of my reviews was in it. It was. "Blown" by Francine Mathews. Eat breakfast. Take Frodo for a walk. Shower. Leanne takes the kids grocery shopping. Usually she just takes Ian, but Sean wanted to go. 11:00. At computer. Trying to figure out how to do a mail merge. I have a database of 1900+ independent bookstores in an Excel file and I needed to import them into Word and create labels so I can do a mailing of the brochure for THE DEVIL'S PITCHFORK. I've never done it before and I wasn't having any luck. 12:20. Leanne & kids get back home. I help unload groceries. We go out to lunch at Big Boys. 1:30. Back home. Kids go swimming. I'm back at the computer working on the mail merge. 3:00. Eureka! Got it to work. I now have mailing labels for slightly over 1900 independent bookstores, 600+ libraries (and counting), and several hundred more of people who have bought previous books of mine and Michigan bookstores, indie or chain. 3:00-4:00. Go upstairs and read for a while. "The One Percent Doctrine," an absolutely appalling nonfiction book about the War on Terror. 4:00. Back to the office working on the business report. Finish the section I was working on. 5:30. Take a bunch of newsletters and a pad of paper and go upstairs to the dining room table. Start going through them looking for financial data regarding independent labs for the business report. 7:00 or so. Finish collating. Put on swim suit, load kayak onto truck and we all go out to Stoney Lake Park to kayak for a while. Quiet night. 8:45. Home again. Fix some dinner. Do dishes. Pick up yard a bit. 9:20. Read. "Spy" by Tim Bell. 10:00. Go to bed. Note: I didn't get to work on any fiction. I'm working on the rewrite of ANGELS FALLING, but didn't have a chance today because I was dicking around with the mail merge for THE DEVIL'S PITCHFORK promotion. Next time, at least, I'll know what I'm doing... unless Microsoft changes their programming... Best, Mark Terry Read/Post Comments (2) 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 ::