Have hockey stick, will travel.

What is the typical daily routine of an Author? Well, I’m not sure because I only know one other Author really well, and as he is a journalist too he seems to spend all his time drinking Jameson’s whisky in BBC bars the country over. Not necessarily a good example.

This Author (I doubt I’m typical in any way) spent her early morning trading emails with her agent. She then moved on to get a bath and get dressed. It was snowing outside, but unlike the great masses who use this as an excuse to a day off work, I work from home. Also, the only person I would be skiving off would be me. Besides, I like what I do for a living.

I’ve been planning a sequel to ‘Bringing home the stars’. I’ve been thinking I should for a while. This is one of those areas that Authors get accused of being slackers over. I quite agree that in most other professions, lying on a bed with your eyes closed listening to a Florence and the Machine LP would be considered slacking, but it is part of the creative process for an Author. Honest.

Lunch was a curry, because Zoë (working on magazine articles in the office nextdoor) fancied one. I let her choose – she chose Tikka with Quorn pieces. Nice. We ate it whilst watching an episode of Frasier. Y’know, the episode where they try and start a restaurant. The trouble is that the Crane boys like to meddle and pick, and sooner or later everything falls apart. Which it did.

Lunch break over, I headed back upstairs to the office and settled into my afternoon routine. There is only so long that I can concentrate on book planning, so I’ve been working on editing ‘Orb of Arawaan’ for a second edition. I am embarressed to admit that the first edition is rough. Rougher than a rough thing that’s been roughened up by sandpaper. There’s a good story in there, but Mr Grammer and Mr Spelling weren’t on the ball and neither was Mr Editor. So I’m taking the time to redo it. It’s coming out really nicely – this is the book I would have written in 2004 if I had been as good as I am now.

Writing and editing need frequent breaks. I know, I know – I have tried real other jobs, but jobs that require intensive use of the mind and creative imagination take a lot out of you. That’s why there is a bed in my office – for those creative daydreaming breaks. Really – if you arean Author, you will know what I mean. If you aspire to be an Author, get yourself down to bed-o-rama and pick yourself out a cheapie for the office.

During the evening break I decided to browse Facebook (or ‘MyFace’ or ‘FaceTube’ as I tend to call it – I’m getting old, all right? When I was a teenager the internet barely existed). It’s always nice to see what people I haven’t seen since school are up to – keeping in touch has never been so easy at a swoop. I also went and entered a competition to be an extra in St Trinians III. Just because. Think of me as the girl who got kept down at school. Every year. Now I’m 30 and my uniform doesn’t fit properly anymore. Have hockey stick, will travel.

It’s ten o’clock in the evening, and I’m still working. Being an Author might sound like being a slacker to some, but the hours can be very long. It is so fortunate that I like this way of life. You get to stay in the warmth, and I’m not good with crowds. Later on tonight I’ll press on with some more editing, and maybe think again about what I’m going to write for my next book. I might even write a short story. Maybe one about guns that fire rockets that fire other rockets that fire aliens on motorbikes that fire rockets…. (you get the picture).