{"id":5735,"date":"2016-01-25T13:35:48","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T20:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colleenhouck.com\/?p=5735"},"modified":"2016-01-26T15:16:01","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T22:16:01","slug":"modern-ink-society-january-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/25\/modern-ink-society-january-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern Ink Society- January 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">FEATURING GUEST <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: xx-large;\">Alexandra Monir<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800080; font-size: 18pt;\">A Day in the Life of an Author<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Welcome to the twenty-fourth session of<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<span style=\"color: #800000; font-size: 24pt;\">THE MODERN INK SOCIETY!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/at-vintage-typewrite.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1057 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/at-vintage-typewrite.jpg\" alt=\"at-vintage-typewrite\" width=\"430\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/at-vintage-typewrite.jpg 430w, https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/at-vintage-typewrite-300x221.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 430px) 100vw, 430px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #993366;\"><em><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"color: #993366;\">\u201cYou don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.”<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"color: #993366;\">\u00a0<\/span><em><span style=\"color: #00ccff; font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"color: #993366;\">\u2014\u00a0Martin Luther King Jr. <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #00ccff; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 24pt;\">\u00a0Her Featured\u00a0Book\u00a0is <\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Suspicion.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5854\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5854\" src=\"https:\/\/colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Suspicion.png\" alt=\"Suspicion\" width=\"270\" height=\"408\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Suspicion.png 270w, https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Suspicion-199x300.png 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff9900; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 24pt;\">Introducing the\u00a0lovely Alexandra Monir,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/profile-pic.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5853\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5853\" src=\"https:\/\/colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/profile-pic.png\" alt=\"profile pic\" width=\"270\" height=\"406\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/profile-pic.png 270w, https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/profile-pic-200x300.png 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>A Day in the Life of an Author<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">A lot of people imagine that being an author consists of sitting at a cozy desk\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">overlooking a garden or lake or otherwise picturesque setting, a dreamy smile on\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">your face as you type away in a fit of brilliance. Er, not exactly. The reality\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">involves a lot more staring into space, asking yourself \u201cUm, what happens now?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">until you finally figure it out, obsessing over paragraphs and sentences and\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">dialogue, and then running around doing Author Business: emails, marketing,\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">events.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0\u00a0 The truth is, you always feel behind on something. If you\u2019re killing it on your\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">manuscript and hitting your word count goals, chances are you\u2019ve had to neglect\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">some promotional tasks, such as guest blog posts, social media, your newsletter,\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">etc. And if you\u2019re in full-on marketing mode, touring and spreading the word\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">about your latest release, it\u2019s practically a miracle if you can squeeze in any\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">writing. That\u2019s why, during those in-between times when I\u2019m not too close to a\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">deadline or a book release, I try to divide my workday in hourly chunks. So it\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">basically looks something like this:<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 First thing in the morning, while I\u2019m still in my PJs, I get out my lap desk and\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">write an hour from bed. Unless I have a morning meeting, this is an absolute\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">must-do ritual for me. No matter how busy the rest of the day gets, having that\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">hour under my belt gives my story some progress and momentum.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After that, it\u2019s time for my patient doggie to go out! Taking her for a walk is the\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">best when it comes to clearing my head, and also coming up with ideas or\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">solutions on plot and characters. Once we\u2019re back inside and she\u2019s fed and good\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">to go, I sit back at the computer and do an hour of Author Correspondence:\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">responding to any emails that have come in from my editor or agents, and\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">reaching out to them with any questions or ideas I might have on current or\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">upcoming books.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0\u00a0 From here, the day tends to follow a loose hour-by-hour pattern. I\u2019ll spend one\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">hour locked in on my current manuscript, then take a five-minute break to clear\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">my head and segue into an hour of\u2026screenwriting, which is my latest career\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">goal! Then it\u2019s either back to my manuscript, or if I\u2019m in edits on a book, I\u2019ll take\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">care of those. And back and forth again. Before wrapping up for the day and\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">getting ready for my husband to come home from work (a.k.a time to make both\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">myself and the apartment look pretty!) I\u2019ll take another hour to respond to any\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">other emails that have come in and respond to tweets and reader messages.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0\u00a0 Does the idea of switching projects\/tasks every hour sound whiplash-y? If so,\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">you are not alone! I know many people who find this kind of schedule a bit\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">nuts\u2014but as a Gemini, I\u2019ve found that constantly switching it up helps keep me\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">energized and excited about my works in progress, and it\u2019s that much harder for\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">me to get complacent. <\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">Of course, when I\u2019m on a deadline, the schedule looks\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">much more like this: Get up. Work on the same manuscript for 10 hours, with\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">breaks only to walk the dog and eat. And when I\u2019m in Book Release Mode, I\u2019m\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">running around to bookstore signings, festivals, interviews, and might not even\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">see my computer.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">In a way, these ever-changing phases are what make the life\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">of an author exciting. Just when you get used to a long stretch of writing Work B,\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">suddenly it\u2019s time to launch Work A, and your life goes from private to public. Or\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">maybe you\u2019ve come up with an idea for Work C, and it\u2019s time to clear the decks\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">and focus on that. You never quite know how things will unfold, so it\u2019s a constant\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">adventure.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #993366; font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0\u00a0 For all of you writers out there, what is your (somewhat!) daily routine?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">A huge thanks to\u00a0Kady for sharing a day in the life of an author.\u00a0If you’d\u00a0like to learn more about Alexandra you can check her out at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.alexandramonir.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">alexandramonir.com<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Also, don’t forget to\u00a0participate in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/topic\/show\/17930482-chat-with-author-alexandra-monir\" target=\"_blank\">ongoing chat <\/a>with\u00a0Alexandra and Colleen\u00a0through the end of this month! Don’t forget, there will be a <strong><span style=\"color: #00ffff;\">GIVEAWAY<\/span><\/strong>!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/topic\/show\/17930482-chat-with-author-alexandra-monir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5856\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-5856\" src=\"https:\/\/colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/chbcjanuary2016-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"chbcjanuary2016\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/chbcjanuary2016-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/chbcjanuary2016-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/chbcjanuary2016-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/chbcjanuary2016-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">~Till next time,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Linda Louise Lotti<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FEATURING GUEST Alexandra Monir A Day in the Life of an Author Welcome to the twenty-fourth session of \u00a0THE MODERN INK SOCIETY! \u201cYou don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.” \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Martin Luther King Jr. \u00a0 \u00a0Her Featured\u00a0Book\u00a0is \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Introducing the\u00a0lovely Alexandra Monir, A Day in the Life of an Author A lot of people imagine that being an author consists of sitting at a cozy desk\u00a0overlooking a garden or lake or otherwise picturesque setting, a dreamy smile on\u00a0your face as you type away in a fit of brilliance. Er, not exactly. The reality\u00a0involves a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,39],"class_list":["post-5735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featuring-authors","category-the-modern-ink-society"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5735"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5950,"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5735\/revisions\/5950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colleenhouck.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}