So as you all know, Day in the Life is a Author Feature here on Ali's Bookshelf and today I have author Ally Malinenko to share with you what her day is like. Enjoy!
The alarm goes off at 5 am. No wait, that’s not right. It’s
before 5 am. My husband nudges me and I murmur five more minutes, please, just
five more minutes burying my head under the blanket. Then June, the tabby cat,
starts crying. And not your usual meows – these are ear splitting,
I’m-dying-give-me-food-now-you-puny-humans sort of cries. Really intense End of
the World Ragnarok sort of stuff.
We stumble
up and out of bed. Coffee on. Teapot on. Cat fed. Pee. Computer on. Radio on to
classical station. Teapot whistles – oh teapot why must you be so loud! Out
damned teapot! Out!
Then I sit
in my closet (literally) and write. Sometimes I write poems or stories,
provided I managed to think of an idea since yesterday morning. Most times I go
back to the current novel. I read through yesterday’s writing. June comes in.
She climbs into the empty comic book box on the floor and curls up to sleep.
Good. This lasts seventeen seconds. Then she’s trying to climb into my lap. I
give in, reading through yesterday’s writing. She stands on my lap and meows at
me. I bend my arms around her to rewrite stuff and wonder how one person can
switch tenses that quickly. I catch typos. I fix them.
I write. I
put June down. I think about my main character – how scared she must be right
now, realizing that she’s going to have to fight this battle on her own. I put
words in her mouth. I read them outloud. I cringe. I delete them. The cat jumps
up on my lap again. I finish my tea and make more. I write some new dialogue. I
look at the clock. The morning is going too fast. I have to get ready for work
soon. I write some more. I check my email again. I put June down. She cries. I
delete three paragraphs of what I just wrote. I yawn. I get more tea.
I write. I
re-read it. I cringe less. I write more. I re-read it. I skip ahead and jot
down notes for a future scene. June cries and jumps back in my lap. My husband
comes by, reminds me of what time it is. I squeeze out another page but don’t
have time to re-read it. I save my work, shut off the radio and get ready for
work. I hope tomorrow morning will be just as good. June meows. She hopes so
too.
Thanks so much Ally, for being on the blog today and sharing your day with us. Tomorrow I will be reviewing Ally's book on our Mini Me Corner Review. Make sure you stop by and check that out. Happy Reading everyone!!!
Ally Malinenko, a self-proclaimed Bardolator, took her first pilgrimage to Stratford-Upon-Avon in 2009 and hasn’t been the same since. Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb is her first children's book. Her poetry book, The Wanting Bone, was published by Six Gallery Press. She blogs at allymalinenko.com. Ally lives in Brooklyn with her husband.
Author Links
Website: http://allymalinenko.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AllyMalinenko
