The most common questions readers (and many writers) ask me are:

When and where do you write?

How many words do you write a day?

How long does it take you to finish a book?

Those simple questions have complicated answers, and today is a good example of why.

As usual, my writing day began in early morning. I’m finishing the first draft of Show Me the Door, and I wake up thinking about what’s going to happen.

My priority for the day, however, was writing a disguised bibliography for Thunder Beneath My Feet. I need to deliver it, a bio, and a couple other little things to the publisher by Friday. I started on the bibliography about 8 a.m., sorting my long-neglected files in the living room so I wouldn’t have to spread them out in my office.

Nuggets I’d saved came to light, giving me a possible start on planning a sequel and ideas on promotion. The research done and content choices made, I spent most of the morning in writing the two-page piece.

After a lunch/news break, I edited that and the three other shorts and emailed them to my critiquers for comment.

Around 2:30 I made a quick trip to the pharmacy to renew a prescription. With the traffic light, I thought about when to write and post a blog about the June release of the paperback edition of Show Me the Murder. My copies arrived yesterday.

Back at home, I relaxed in my recliner with pad and pencil to make notes for a crucial interrogation in Chapter 26 of Show Me the Door.

 Back to the office to read comments on my Thunder notes, followed by a supper/news break in front of the TV, an errand, and back to the office to read critiquers’ comments and revise the bibliography.

About 9:30 p.m. I did a quick email check. The prize: the Five Star designer’s image of the cover of Show Me the Ashes. Huge relief. I like it. I really like it. I sent the editor an email saying so.

By golly, I thought. That makes five books I’ve worked on today, each one at a different stage in the writing-publishing-marketing continuum. I should blog about that.

I don’t know how many words I wrote or how many total hours I spent or what percentage of my work time I spent in bed, in the living room, in the office, or moving around. I do know I had a productive day.

It’s 10:30 p.m., and I’m tired.

—Carolyn Mulford