Carole Mortimer | An Author's Weekly Diary: Part 2

Thursday

Up by 8. Coffee. Emails, Twitter, Facebook. I need to finalise some details for my trip
to New York on July 20th for the RWA conference. I order my dollars online, confirm my
hotel and flight details are correctly booked. Then I have the mammoth task of sorting
out ESTA’s for the whole family—the visa waiver pass that US customs require us to have
to enter the country. My whole family are coming to join me at the RWA conference to see
me collect my Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award, and we’re having a family holiday
together afterwards. With 10 passes to order for; my husband, 6 sons, 2 daughter-in-
laws, 3 month old granddaughter Aoife, it takes me over an hour to do. I then squeeze in
3 hours of writing on Warrior Alpha (Alpha 6), before lunch.

After lunch I know I should go food shopping, but I’ve just seen there’s a Federer
tennis match on TV this afternoon, so the food shopping will have to wait and my family
will have to make due with what’s in the fridge. And what a match, Federer is such an
elegant player, I find it a joy to sit and watch him. As a result dinner is slightly
later than usual. Another of my sons, Michael, rings as I’m preparing dinner, to say
he’ll be down to stay with us next weekend, so I make a mental note to make sure a spare
bed is made up for him. Then more NCIS, then back to work on Warrior Alpha (Alpha 6) at
11pm and work until 2am.

Friday

Up by 8. Coffee. Emails, Twitter, Facebook. I send emails to confirm the dates of the 5
blogs I’m writing this month. They take a while to write but they’re invaluable as a
great way to make relationships with readers, website owners, and bloggers. I turn my
attention to my New York trip, my diary is really filling up for the 5 day RWA
conference. Luckily a lot of them are breakfast, lunch or dinner meetings—usually I
don’t have time to eat during the conference so it’ll be a nice change. When the postman
arrives, he has a package for me. It’s the jacket I’ve had made for the RWA Awards
ceremony. It’s gorgeous and exactly what I wanted. I take a couple of hours to finally
go food shopping but I’ll make up the missed writing time later tonight.

In the afternoon I speak on the telephone with several of my sons. My youngest son Peter
won’t be at home for dinner this evening, as he’s going out with friends to the cinema.
Tim hasn’t heard anything about his job interview from Monday yet, I hope they contact
him soon. Matthew who is an IT teacher on the Isle of Man, has a job interview today, so
fingers crossed for him. Then it’s dinner, more NCIS, and I continue working on Warrior
Alpha (Alpha 6), until 2am.

Saturday

I drive my youngest son to the train station. He had a great time with his friends at
the cinema last night, and today he’s off to London for the weekend as a guest of
someone at a school Leavers Ball. When I get home from the station I get lunch ready, as
we have two sons and their families visiting today; my son David and daughter-in-law
Claire, with grandchildren Jake and Ruth. And my son Josh, who lives locally, and hasn’t
seen David for months is coming with my other daughter-in-law Esther and their new baby;
Aoife. It’s lovely having a new baby in the family again.

With so many people around there’s no time for housework, thank goodness. I make a
buffet lunch, as that’s easiest when there are a lot of us. The weather is glorious too,
so we eat outside.

When our two sons and their families depart, I manage to do a little gardening in the
afternoon, as the beds need weeding. My husband and I sit down together in the evening
for a well-earned rest after a hectic day of visitors, and I decide not to work tonight.

Sunday

Sunday is the day I have a lie in until 10 o’clock, and my husband very kindly brought
me coffee and biscuits in bed. I read for a couple of hours—which is one of my favorite
things, but a luxury. Once I’m up I put the meat in the oven for Sunday lunch, I change
the beds and clean the bedrooms and bathrooms.

After Sunday lunch, I have a restful afternoon, watching an old movie on TV. Thankfully
no one is hungry enough for tea after that huge lunch, so I don’t need to make any ore
food today. Another dose of NCIS, and I get back to work by 10.30pm. I check emails,
Twitter and Facebook, which takes a good hour, because I didn’t do any of it yesterday.
Then it’s back to work on my latest book Warrior Alpha (Alpha 6), until 2am, and then
off to bed ready to start a new week.

It’s a busy life, but a very happy one!

About Carole Mortimer

Carole Mortimer has written 200 romance novels in contemporary and Regency and she is a USA Today and Amazon Bestselling Author. In 2014 she received a Pioneer of Romance Award from Romantic Times in the US. In 2012 she was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II for her 'outstanding service to literature'. She is very happily married to Peter, they have six sons, and live on the Isle of Man. Website | Facebook | Twitter

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