Typical Day

I’ve participated in many Q&As over the past ten months since promo for my debut novel, Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet, first began and I’m often asked what a typical day looks like for me now that I’m writing full time. The truth is there is no such thing as a “typical” day so to illustrate that I’ll be giving you the occasional glimpse into my work week, starting with this week!

Monday, June 28th – Friday, July 2nd

MONDAY:

8:00 AM-9:00 AM: 1) Woke up 2) Fed the dogs 3) Took the puppy to daycare for socialization
9:30 AM-10:30 AM: Yoga
11:00 AM-12:00 PM: 1) Looked at two things authors are never supposed to look at: Goodreads & Bookscan 2) Checked on my budget/finances through YNAB 3) Answered emails
12:00 PM-12:30 PM: Read over the application instructions for Tanya Saracho’s Ojalá Ignition Lab
12:30 PM-1:00 PM: Ate lunch (turkey sandwich if you’re curious)
1:00 PM-1:30 PM: Tried to figure out how to delete pages from a PDF
1:30 PM-3:30 PM: Finalized my TV show pitch and submitted it along with a writing sample to the Ojalá Ignition Lab (fingers crossed it gets picked!)
3:30 PM-4:00 PM: Worked on stuff for Las Musas
4:00 PM-5:30 PM: Finally finished reading the amazing incredible wonderful FIFTEEN HUNDRED MILES FROM THE SUN by Jonny Garza Villa. I typically like to block off 4:00 PM-5:00 PM every work day for reading but I’ve been dealing with a lot of tension headaches and other migraine symptoms this month so it was taking me longer to finish things than it normally does.
5:30 PM-6:00 PM: Responded to tweets and messages on social media

TUESDAY:

8:00 AM-9:00 AM: 1) Woke up 2) Fed the dogs 3) Played with them inside because it was raining
9:00 AM-10:00 AM: 1) Checked on my budget/finances through YNAB (this is a daily habit that keeps my goals top of mind) 2) Worked on stuff for Las Musas 3) Added something to the “News” section of my website
10:30 AM-11:30 AM: Yoga
12:00 PM-12:30 PM: Ate lunch (another turkey sandwich because I’m boring)
12:30 PM-1:00 PM: 1) Answered emails form my agent (one was about the upcoming press release for my new MG novel and the other was related to submission strategies for my next five projects) 2) Searched for a few illustrators to approach about collaborating on an Early Graphic Novel and sent the names to my agent
1:00 PM-1:30 PM: 1) Worked on this blog post 2) Added one more thing to the “News” section of my website
1:30 PM-1:45 PM: Social Media Break!
1:45 PM-3:00 PM: Added 1 poem to my novel-in-verse WIP (my goal was 4 but then I had an allergy attack because it started to rain and I’m allergic to mold)
3:00 PM-3:30 PM: Switched to outlining and sketched out the rest of the novel
3:30 PM-4:00 PM: 1) Got excited because I received an invite to be a guest on my favorite publishing podcast ever! 2) Worked on stuff for Las Musas & The Latinx Kidlit Book Festival
4:00 PM-4:30 PM: Did not have the energy for reading because of all of the Benadryl I took but I did have just enough energy to clean out my Downloads folder on my laptop to free up some memory!
4:30 PM-5:00 PM: Worked on some more stuff for Las Musas & The Latinx Kidlit Book Festival

WEDNESDAY

8:00 AM-9:00 AM: 1) Woke up 2) Fed the dogs 3) Took them both to daycare
9:00 AM-9:30 AM: 1) Checked on my budget/finances through YNAB 2) Worked on a few things for Las Musas
9:30 AM-11:00 AM: Added 2 poems to my novel-in-verse WIP (hoping to make up some ground today since I wasn’t feeling great yesterday and ended my writing session early)
11:00 AM-11:30 AM: Worked on stuff for Las Musas
11:30 AM-12:00 PM: Added another poem to my novel-in-verse WIP for a total of 3.
12:00 PM-1:00 PM: Lunch break (Oatmeal with mango, coconut flakes, and chocolate chips)
1:00 PM-1:30 PM: Worked on creating questions for an upcoming NerdCamp panel discussion on the topic: Ethical Strategies for Exploring the Latinx Experience through Young Adult Novels
1:30 PM-3:30 PM: Started working on a presentation for the Writer’s League of Texas about “Writing Through Difficult Times”
3:30 PM-4:00 PM: Worked on some stuff for Las Musas and the Latinx Kidlit Book Festival

THURSDAY

8:30 AM-9:00 AM: 1) Woke up a little late (whoops!) 2) Discovered that one of the dogs threw up so I had to clean his bed 3) Fed the dogs
9:00 AM-9:30 AM: 1) Checked on my budget/finances through YNAB 2) Worked on some stuff for Las Musas
9:30 AM-11:00 AM: Took the puppy to training (today was a long walk)
11:00 AM-12:00 PM: Took the puppy to the vet (now she’s pooped)
12:00 PM-12:30 PM: 1) Lunch break (leftover chicken satay with rice noodles and pickled carrots, onions, garlic, and ginger) 2) Ordered groceries for the week
12:30 PM-2:00 PM: Shower (it’s a wash day) and styling for an event tonight. I have super thick super curly hair so it’s a process.
2:00 PM-2:30 PM: 1) Folded Laundry 2) Put away the groceries (and asked myself how this turned into an “adulting” day instead of a writing day)
2:30 PM-4:00 PM: 1) Decided no writing would get done today and that’s okay 2) Pulled together some financial documents I’ll need for a mortgage application next week 3) Worked on some stuff for Las Musas
4:00 PM-5:00 PM: Continued reading The Firekeeper’s Daughter
5:00 PM-6:00 PM: 1) Got ready for my evening virtual event 2) Ate an early dinner (a burger from Mighty Fine)
6:00 PM-7:00 PM: Virtual Event with some fellow Musas!

FRIDAY

8:30 AM-9:00 AM: 1) I woke up late again (dangit!) 2) Fed the dogs
9:30 AM-11:30 AM: 1) Yoga 2) Went back to the vet because Gambit accidentally ate the puppy’s medication so I had to refill it (again! Also, Gambit’s fine FYI.)
11:30 AM-12:00 PM: Shower
12:00 PM-1:00 PM: Long lunch break chatting with my partner
1:00 PM-2:00 PM: 1) Answered emails 2) Researched an in-person event I might be attending in the Fall (and realized that it overlaps with another event I might be attending in the Fall)
2:30 PM-3:00 PM: Worked on some stuff for Las Musas
3:00 PM-5:00 PM: Put together my July newsletter and shared it with subscribers
*No writing today either but I’m doing this new thing where I no longer measure my value as a human being by how much I’m able to produce so I’m going to consider this “easy” day a win since it shows I’m actually making progress towards the things that matter like taking better care of myself.