Your Questions: Finding Balance and Staying Sane

Asked and Answered

Last month, I offered to give you the book of your choice if you'd ask me a question. Any question. This months' winner is Suzanne in Placerville, and a book is on its way to her!

Suzanne asks: How do you balance traveling, writing, artistic endeavors, and time at home?  

The best thing I ever did for myself was to decide to take a few months off from traveling each year. I stay home from November-March to avoid the worst of the winter travel season. This lets me have a nice long stretch of time at home to get the first draft of a book written. I give myself a quota--maybe 1000 words per day--and after 3 months, I have a terrible first draft.

I also make a real effort to work a little bit of what I love into every single day. On a perfect day at home, I might go upstairs after breakfast and make art for just a little while--maybe only 30 minutes or an hour--but this is possible because my art studio is always set up and ready to go. I don't have to spend time unpacking supplies or clearing off a space.

Also, I go to the gym, which I love. It's just a boring old gym, but there's something about getting out of the house and pushing myself to stay in shape that just feels absolutely necessary.  I've been listening to Coffee Break Italian at the gym, and that combination--huffing and puffing and Italian lessons--has just become addictive. I hate to miss a day.

Then I have lunch, and in the afternoon I tackle my 1000 words. It's not as hard as it sounds. I unplug from the Internet, close the door to my office (this is the signal to my husband that I am not to be disturbed unless the house is on fire--he has literally never once knocked on that door), and sometimes I do a little meditation with the Headspace app. If I still can't figure out what to write, I write by hand in a journal for a while about how I have no idea what to write. Or I read some amazing novel from the 1910s to get the language of the era in my head, and maybe even copy out a page from that novel to get myself going. Pretty soon I'm up and running. I'm usually done by dinnertime.

I force myself to do an hour or so of administrative work almost every day, usually after dinner, when I'm brain-dead anyway. Accounting, answering emails, website updates, paperwork--these things take time, but not much concentration or energy.

Oh--and when I am on book tour, I literally do NOTHING else. Some people write on the road, or do some kind of work--not me. I figure it's my full-time job to get myself from point A to point B and to show up on time, dressed appropriately, fed, caffienated--and as long as I've accomplished that, I've done all the work I have to do. 

Bonus Round: Should I Fire My Agent?

Okay, I actually picked two winners this time. Read my answer to this question on my blog.

This Month's Contest

Go here to ask me a question and choose your prize. Feel free to ask the same question you asked last time! I loved so many of them--I will get to yours eventually.

Thanks for playing, everybody!

This is My New Favorite Art Thing

This month, I became a Patreon supporter of Alicia Aradilla, a young Spanish artist who has somehow managed to figure out how to make a livelihood out of traveling the world and drawing pictures. I want to live vicariously through her Instagram page. By throwing a few bucks her way every month, I not only get to fund her glorious artsy lifestyle, but I also get access to videos and tutorials that teach me a new way of drawing and painting. Highly recommended.

Don't Miss Indie Bookstore Day

April 27 is Independent Bookstore Day. At participating bookstores, you'll be able to pick up all kinds of totally unique, exclusive bookish items, including this book WHAT TO EAT WITH WHAT YOU READ, to which I contributed a Kopp sisters family recipe. Find a participating bookstore here.

The Fall Book Tour is Coming Together!

I'm firming up a lot of dates for 2019, so stay tuned! And if you're part of a literary series, a library event, or some other bookish gathering, please feel free to reach out to publicity@amystewart.com to see about setting up an event.

Rocky River, OH May 14: Lakewood Garden Club, Drunken Botanist
Wallingford CT: May 15: One Book, One Wallingford
Seattle, WA May 23: Author Salon, Drunken Botanist
Hillsboro, OR June 20: Author tea 
Mission Viejo, CA Sep 11: Literary Orange

Some of these are ticketed events. More tour dates are on my website. Please confirm details with the venue.

Giveaways &
Ebook Sales

Head over to Goodreads by April 30 to win a copy of Lady Cop Makes Trouble. If you already have one, enter anyway and give it to a friend!

Also, Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit is a $2.99 ebook this month.

What Are You Reading?

I just discovered Sarah Waters, and I'm devouring everything she's written. The Paying Guests is set in England just after WWI. It starts out as a fine domestic historical novel, then it veers into a torrid love story, and then, astonishingly, it becomes the most gripping crime novel imaginable. I truly found it hard to get anything done all day because I just wanted to get back to this book.

What are you reading? Tell me about it on Goodreads or Litsy.