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A Day in the Life of..
This is where us bloggers & fans get a glimpse inside the days of our favorite authors!
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Stephanie Connelley Worlton was born with a pen in one hand, a paintbrush in the other, and a pencil behind her ear. Whether it’s writing a novel, constructing a non-fiction help-book, painting a mural, designing furniture, or building sometimes just for the sake of keeping her hands and her mind busy, Stephanie’s always got a project in the works. She lives in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains with one patient husband, two adorable dogs, three hours of sleep, and four amazing children. Her YA fiction, Hope’s Journey debuted July 2012. Watch for her upcoming releases: a non-fiction girls’ camp planning guide (title still in negotiations) and a romantic suspense All the Finer Things.
Where to find Stephanie: Blog ~ Facebook
A Day in the Life of..
Honestly, there is no rhyme, reason, or order to most of my days. From the time the sun peaks through my window to the moment my head hits the pillow at night, each day flows however randomly it chooses. Luckily I don’t have to punch a time-clock because I’m really fond of doing what I want when I want…. likewise, as the mother of four children, randomness is sometimes the only way possible.
4:00 - Wake up for no apparent reason other than the genetic code that seems to have me programmed for freakishly early awakenings. Try to go back to sleep.
5:00 - Still trying to go back to sleep, see the sun peak over the Rockies and hear what sounds like a small animal being tortured. Realize it’s just the neighbor’s peacock doing his morning voice exercises… try to go back to sleep… again.
6:00 – After two hours of mapping out my day while fruitlessly trying to get more sleep, consider getting up to hit the gym. Decide against it. Snuggle up to my snoring hubby instead.
6:30 – Slide out of bed with my day fully planned in my head. Make it as far as the kitchen before realizing things are already off course. Seventeen-year-old has slept in and missed his bus. Fourteen-year-old has “nothing to wear.”
6:35 – Observe 14 year-old’s bulging closet. Suggest outfit options to a set of vacant green eyes. Suggest more options. Return her eye roll, smile at her zebra footy-pajamas, and make my exit.
6:40 – Start penning a daily to-do list. Items include design a new shed, stain the porch, wash um-teen loads of laundry, respond to emails, design shirts for upcoming youth activity, add 1000 words to current work in progress, blog, and maybe workout and shower… Maybe!
7:00 – Send 14 year-old out the door, grateful she’s managed to pull together an outfit from the sea of “nothing” in her room. Even more grateful she didn’t decide to wear the zebra footies to school.
7:15 – Kiss my sweetheart and send him out the door.
7:20 – Send 17-year-old out the door, glad he can drive himself.
7:25 – Greet 11-year-old as she smiles her way down the stairs, a near zombie, but glowing none-the-less.
7:40 – Call up the stairs to sleeping 9-year-old. He growls in protest but emerges almost immediately from his room, already dressed.
7:45 – Eat a gourmet breakfast of Cocoa Puffs… the breakfast of real champions!
8:30 – Send 11-yr-old and 9-yr-old out the door for school. Make my bed, definitively cancel my date with the “dread-mill,” and head straight for the shower.
9:10 – Throw a load of laundry in the washing machine.
9:15 – Log on to my laptop feeling as if such a pivotal part of my life should have a name. But what do you name that special someone you pluck your day away with? George? Hughey?... Bob?
9:20 – Clean out the “unnecessaries” from my email account. Start to tackle the rest. Send off responses to my Publisher, blog tour hosts, fans. Drop a short message to my cute hubby.
10:00 – Open Facebook….. get lost for about an hour. Accomplish nothing, but learn that Curtis is getting married, Andy added an awesome pair of neon green shoes to his collection, and Heather grilled hotdogs for dinner.
11:00 – Remember the laundry. Switch it out.
11:05 - Hop around from Amazon, to Barnes and Noble, and on to Goodreads…. Lose about another hour.
12:00 – Eat lunch. PB&J on toast.
12:05 – Log back on to Hughey – or did we decide to name him Bob? I don’t remember.
12:06 – Avoid the temptation to waste more time on the internet. Close my browser and open up Word.
12:10 – Skim over Work-in-progress to rattle my memory. Edit (though I know I shouldn’t yet). Rethink conversation between two characters. Edit more.
1:30 – Pull myself out of editing after losing more words than I actually type.
1:31 – Remember the laundry again. Switch it out.
1:36 – Jump back in to WIP. Get into a good writing groove.
2:45 – Writing groove crashes to a halt! Teenagers bombard the house. Fridge opens and closes 13 times. Pantry opens once, stays open as traffic runs in and out of it.
3:00 – Assess the damage left from the teenager storm. Switch out another load of laundry.
3:05 – Run away to my bedroom, hoping to find my lost groove.
3:30 – Give up on the groove. Close my lap-top and slide on a pair of gardening gloves.
3:35 – Stare at the yard, contemplating a good place to start. The herb garden? Maybe the strawberry patch? Decide to tackle both.
4:15 – Eleven-yr-old and nine-yr-old get home. Both greet me with excited narratives of their day.
4:20 – Eleven-yr-old puts on garden gloves and helps. Nine-yr-old wanders inside, plants himself on the couch, and powers on the TV.
4:45 – Abort gardening endeavors’ in order to conquer piano lessons, dance, orthodontic appointments, youth activities, service projects… and, oh yah, a little detail called dinner!
8:00 – Homework of the 3rd, 5th, and 9th grade variety. Apparently 11th graders don’t have homework - on my son’s planet anyway – which is a good thing because between his social life and job, there really wouldn’t be a moment free to do it.
9:30 – TV goes off. Entire family gathers – often for the first time all day – and we join together for a prayer.
10:00 – Everybody goes to bed. Okay, maybe not everybody, but I go to my room and everyone else goes to theirs… eventually. Sounds slowly fade beyond my door as I try to squeeze a few more words into my WIP.
11:00 – Shut down for the day, grateful for all that I did get done, and rededicated to do more tomorrow. Drift to darkness with plans for a morning date with the “dreadmill,” the shed design, and at least another 1000 words… or maybe not!
Sydney is a straight-A student heading to college on a scholarship, and Alex is a quiet jock preparing to serve an LDS mission. But their dreams are shattered on the eve of their high school graduation when they find out that Sydney is pregnant. Separated, they must both trust in God as they search for the worth they once found in each other.
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