6 October 2011

Kerri gives us a peak in A Day in the Life of an Author Mom

Guest Blog Day #2:

A Day in the Life of an Author Mom

A lot of people ask me what “a day in the life” is like for me and it really does vary each day. Let me share with you one day this past weekend wherein I was attempting to attend a writer’s conference in…Georgia.

Luckily, I had family that agreed to keep my two girls for the weekend so that hubby could drive me to the event. But my toddler was tagging along for the ride. He’s a little over 1 year old and a handful. So here’s how my Saturday went.

6:30 a.m. Awaken to annoying cell phone alarm. I’m on Central time which is an hour behind the local time for conference so this is really 5:30 a.m. for me.

6:45 a.m. Get up and grumbling…make my way to unsatisfactory shower and the “shared” towel that hubby and I had to use because the hotel ran out of clean towels (I kid you not).

7:15 a.m. Finished showering and dressing to find toddler awake and racing around the hotel room with sagging dirty diaper. Hubby watches the news on television from bed.

7:30 a.m. After changing toddler, race out of room to grab some breakfast for the fellas and keeping an eye on the clock for my 8 a.m. appointment with a photographer (yes, I left the room without make-up).

8:00 a.m. After woofing down huge quantities of bacon and leaving the remainder of the food for my boys, I barely squeak through the door for my make-up and photo session on time.

9:00 a.m. Done with make-up session (which was great) and photo shoot (which was fun except I was wearing a sleeveless top and the temperature outside had turned to a surprise unseasonably cold 50 something degrees or less!)

9:30 a.m. Get boys ready to depart for their day of fun at the golf course and lay on bed contemplating just sleeping in and skipping conference completely. Mommy hasn’t slept through a night in about 3 years now. Did I mention I have 2 children under the age of 3?

10:00 a.m. Roust myself up and back down to conference to attend several workshops but all I can think about is lunch. I’m starving!

12:00 p.m. Lunch finally arrives but the food is…well…kind of like a combination of beef jerky and cardboard (a/k/a overcooked roast beef and some unidentifiable rice dish). But the guest speaker, bestselling author Eloisa James is absolutely wonderful. Makes the lunch bearable.

2:00 p.m. Attend one more class and then back to room to check on tired boy who has not had a nap and needs a bath after golf course running.

3:30 p.m. Hubby and little one settled in with snacks and clean diapers (my son—not hubby—LOL) and they are watching Saturday afternoon football. Mommy heads back downstairs to my very first book signing event!

5:30 p.m. Book signing is over and I believe a great success for me. Sold some books. Met some of my formers students. Chatted with many other talented authors and smiled a lot.

6:00 p.m. Back in room and still starving! Haven’t really eaten all day.

7:00 p.m. Gobble up about 4 pieces of pizza with my boys and then get in shower. I have a banquet to attend.

7:30 p.m. Make the mistake of getting on the bed for just a minute to rest my aching feet.

Oops! End of day for writer Mommy! Banquet was missed but a lot was accomplished nonetheless. It might not be possible to “do it all” when you’re a writer and a Mom. But you can do a lot.

~ ~ ~ 

Tell me how you juggle your work load on a daily basis.
~ ~ ~

Book Title: Courting Demons


Blurb:
Paisley Barton was already having a bad day before she turned her husband into a rat.
First, she was fired by her boss and then came home to find hubby in the shower with a naked blonde chick. They say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned but this break-up may just unleash hell on Earth when Paisley casts a spell of vengeance against her philandering husband.
After her spell casting inadvertently opens a portal between dimensions, Paisley finds her family home transformed into a nightly courtroom for settling disputes between demons of the underworld and she’s the judge! If that’s not enough, she’s got to deal with a charming, ancient demon named Camden who wants to be her personal bodyguard while trying to explain her husband’s sudden, mysterious disappearance to sexy police Detective Dalton Briggs.
But Paisley will show them all that an everyday working mom is better equipped than most to deal with the mystical mayhem…and with a tempting demon hottie and a flirtatious young detective vying for her affection, she soon learns that being single again isn’t so bad after all.

“When a wronged wife turns her cheating husband into a rat, you know you have to keep reading! Kerri Nelson offers up a lot of fun and wild magic in Courting Demons!” --Bestselling author, Linda Wisdom, Demons are a Girl’s Best Friend

Author Bio:
Kerri Nelson discovered her love of writing at an early age and soon became a columnist for her local newspaper winning the Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year Award for her efforts.
After a fifteen year career in the legal field, Kerri fulfilled her lifelong dream of publication and is now an award winning multi-published author of nearly every genre under the sun (and moon) and also writes young adult fiction under the penname K.G. Summers.
A true southern belle, she comes complete with a dashing southern gentleman and three adorable children for whom she often bakes many homemade treats.
Kerri is an active member of Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America as well as numerous chapters including Futuristic Fantasy & Paranormal Writers and her Presidency of Celtic Hearts Romance Writers.

Read more about Kerri’s books at her website: www.kerrinelson.com
Follow her on Twitter here: www.twitter.com/kerribookwriter
Visit her industry blog here: www.thebookboost.blogspot.com

Buy Links (print and e-book versions available 9/15 wherever books are sold but here’s the publisher link—free gift available with purchase of print copy—while supplies last):
http://jupitergardens.com/Courting-Demons-by-Kerri-Nelson-print.html 
or
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Courting-Demons-ebook/dp/B005OAY7TG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316621839&sr=8-1

Giveaway for the day:

Leave a question or comment on each day of my appearance here at Sherry’s blog to be entered to win one of 3 daily prizes:
Day #1 (A Custom made Momwitch Bread Bag Clip)
Day #2 (An autographed PRINT copy of Courting Demons)
Day #3 (A Gift Card to Amazon.com)!

Then, enter to win my book tour Grand Prize Kindle by following me on tour and e-mailing me the answers to each question of the day at the end of tour. The more questions you answer, the more entries you gain.

Question of the Day (good for 1 entry each day you comment here at the blog):
In what month and year did my first book release occur?

Details on how to enter to win the GRAND PRIZE Kindle at the end of my “Dark Days of Demons Tour” located here:
http://kerribookwriter.blogspot.com/2011/09/courting-demons-blog-tour-win-kindle.html

Excerpt link for Courting Demons: http://www.jupitergardens.com/excerpts/kn_cd.html

Thanks for hosting today, Sherry. See you back tomorrow with more fun!







14 comments:

Kerry said...

Great post! Hope you had a blast at the conference!
I think my biggest adjustment to being a mom (I have 3 girls - ages 17, 14, and 4) was to realize that I could not plan each day -- I had to learn to adapt and accept change as not only possible, but expected. Learning to deal with "mommy guilt" has been the most difficult - I can feel guilty over just about anything. I try to make sure I balance what needs to be done with what the kids need from me. I don't just take it a day at a time now, I take it an hour at a time, lol. And the other thing I have learned - teenagers need you more than toddlers do. seriously.

Rebecca said...

I agree, great post!

I don't have any kids, so my juggling centers around my day job, work outside and inside the house, adapting to hubby's schedule, and managing all of the family commitments, which take most of my weekends.

I still don’t see how you accomplish so much, Kerri, but I’m still following your advice to break tasks down into 15 minute increments. That’s the only way I get any writing done!

Hope I get a chance to meet you at a conference one day too.
Rebecca
Rrgreene62(at)gmail.com

JeanMP said...

Great post, hope you had a wonderful time at the conference.
I don't have kids, so just have to juggle things around the husband and dog *L*

Jean
skpetal [at] hotmail [dot] com

Miriam Newman said...

Oh, please don't tempt me to tell you how I spend my days. :) I am just happy that you're surviving yours and giving us great books. Write on!

kerribookwriter said...

@Kerry~Not helpful, my friend. No helpful! Teenagers need you more? I feel a panic attack coming on now. I don't have any more hours in the day! Yikes! Hugs to you. xo

kerribookwriter said...

@Rebecca~Yay on the 15 minute method! Good 4U! Yes, please do look me up if we're in the same place, same time situation. Would love to meet you too. One of my former pitch students came by the signing and said that she'd pitched at the conference with much success. Made me proud! You'll make me proud, too. I know it. xo

kerribookwriter said...

@Jean~Well hubby juggling isn't exactly easy all the time. I know. My hubby plans an itinerary for our "relaxing" vacations. He wants to be on the go all the time. Mommy wants to sleep. LOL Hugs, K.

kerribookwriter said...

@Miriam~Hope you're feeling better these days, my sweet friend. I think about you all the time and have big plans to meet up with you in the future. I hope. Fingers crossed. Big hugs via blog for now, Kerri

Dana Rodgers said...

Kerri, I am sorry to say it doesn't get easier--it just gets different. We have three girls, two still at home (one in high school and one in middle school), so my schedule depends on the day. Monday-youth symphony, Tueday- 2 soccer practices (overlapping times and different fields 20 min apart), Wednesday-usually a soccer game, Thursday-2 soccer practices and robotics club, Friday-take a deep breath and say Thank God!
I take my computer with me and use the 2 hour symphony rehearsals and robotics club meetings to catch up with what I fall behind on during the week.

kerribookwriter said...

@Dana~Well, this is truly disturbing indeed! Sigh. And I thought days of rest and relaxation couldn't be far away. :-)

Thanks for stopping by and giving me the low down.

Cheers to busy Moms,
Kerri

Teresa K. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Teresa K. said...

This was a great post Kerri. My son is 23 now and talking about getting married. But if I could meet the right man. I would have another child in a heartbeat.

I really never changed anything in my life when I had my son. His little life worked around my schedule. I did house work as normal while he slept. I never really did anything special so I went to work as normal he went to daycare I picked him up and we either went to church or home. We might go visiting friends and family occasionally. I could read pretty much anytime because he really was a blessing from heaven.

He never gave me a bit of trouble except when he was hungry, dirty or sick. He always woke up with a smile. It's funny after 23 years he still amazes me. Now he pushes me to go out and go to conferences and meet my book authors I love so much. He even pays for some of my trips now.

I must have done something right in my single mom days raising him. He turned out to be a fine young man.

I think your my hero because your juggling your career, a family, that includes three children two that are under the age of three. My hats off to you girlfriend.

I deleted first and same comment forgot to put my name and email addy.

Teresa K.
tcwgrlup41(at)yahoo(dot)com

kerribookwriter said...

@Teresa~Awe. I know. I was a single Mom for several years after my first daughter and my new hubby and I didn't waste time making two more! LOL Wish I could have a whole kit and caboodle of them but hubby says "that's enough!" :-)

My littlest one is my first boy and he's the apple of Mom's eye so I understand how you feel about your son.

You've flattered me. Thanks for such a lovely comment.

Big hugs,
Kerri

kerribookwriter said...

**WINNER**

Day #2 Prize was An autographed PRINT copy of Courting Demons and that copy goes to...

Teresa K.!

CONGRATS!

I had so much fun at this blog, thanks to all who stopped by.

--K.