People always ask me what an average day is like in the life of a writer. Well, every day is different, but I’ve decided to take a random recent day (Thursday) as an example to show how much actual time goes to writing and how much goes to other items like marketing, accounting…and life. (You may know this, but Ramsay is my dog: an 80 lb. Australian Shepherd-mix.)

5:15AM – Alarm goes off. Hit snooze. Ramsay moans.

5:30AM – Turn on computer and make coffee.

5:45AM – Check emails and facebook. Forget to sip coffee and it goes cold.

6:30AM – Write blog about dental care for client.

7:30AM – Feed and walk Ramsay and “write” a few lines for a poem in my head. Scramble eggs and make toast.

8AM – Send out a few queries to editors for magazine articles. Post a press release for my winter writing workshops in Raleigh and Asheville.

9AM – Shower.

9:50AM – Get Ramsay set up in the car and head out.

10AM – Check post office box, pick up checks, deposit at bank.

10:30AM – Stop at the Cary Library to post flyers for my writing workshops in Raleigh. Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood catches my eye. But I don’t have time to check it out, let out alone read it, so it remains on my long list of “books to read some day.”

11AM – Update QuickBooks.

11:15AM – Have an early lunch. Spinach salad with roasted pecans, hard-boiled eggs and carrots. Sweet potato chips.

12PM – Write blogs for personal injury attorney office. Build their facebook content. Patch their web content to make it more SEO-friendly. Have my afternoon dark chocolate fix.

4PM – Receive confirmation of the Volunteer Vacation I registered for with the American Hiking Society. For a week next summer I will stay at the Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and help out with trail maintenance.

4:30PM – Feed and walk Ramsay. Remembered I forgot to write down the poetry lines from the morning.

5PM – Write down the poetry. Learn one of my housemates’ dogs ran off. She tells me to stay at the house in case he comes back and she drives off looking for him.

6PM – The dog found his way home! He’s wet and cold from running through the creek. I towel him off.

6:15PM – Housemates invite me to share in their homemade taco feast. I partake.

7:15PM – Research article ideas. Brainstorm article angles that will incorporate my volunteer vacation. Pick spots in Asheville to promote my writing workshops. Start outlining my next day with deadlines and events.

8:15PM – Get a text from writer friends asking me to meet them in downtown Raleigh at PieBird, a hip restaurant specializing in all things pie. I’m already in my pajamas and it’s very cold out. I debate whether or not I should go. Do I want to don Arctic gear?

8:45PM – At PieBird. Friends already ordered me tea. I order a “pie flight,” which is a slice of three different delish pies. We discuss writing, life, writing life and laugh. A lot. The pie is almost as good as the laughter.

11PM – Debate whether or not to move our party over to Krispy Kreme. I’m all pied out though and suggest we go there over the weekend.

11:30PM – In bed with Thoreau. And Ramsay.