Today I’m thrilled to welcome author Linda Huber to the book review café, the author has kindly written a guest post about her working day. I’m loving these guest posts and I hope you are too, it’s fascinating to read how different authors approach their writing. So without further ado……..
Every day starts the same here in Arbon, N. E. Switzerland – with coffee. Without my two mugs I’m no use to anyone, so the coffee machine gets switched on as soon as the alarm rings at 7 a.m. I check the news while the toast is browning, and after that I’m good to go.
I write more or less full-time now. My ex-day job was teaching English as a foreign language (our school was in a medieval castle; it was the most atmospheric job ever), but I gave that up almost two years ago to concentrate on my books. Nowadays, I teach a handful of private students here at home, and the rest of the time is for writing. First thing I do when I sit down at the computer is the same as almost everyone, I guess – check emails and social media.
My writing desk isn’t actually in my office room, where I teach – it’s in the bedroom. The office room is on the street side, while the bedroom overlooks a beautiful wood. It was a no-brainer, deciding where to do my writing. Who could resist those trees?
What I actually do depends on the stage my wip is at. Currently I’m finishing the new one and getting it into a fit state to go to my editor, and meanwhile, a very new one is beginning to buzz around in my head. I love this stage, where I’m discovering the characters, planning what might happen in the story and how my paper people could react to the problems I throw at them.
Most days I’m home alone during the day, so I can please myself about tea- and lunchbreaks. Lunch can be anytime between one and four o’clock, dinner is usually between six and eight, depending on who’s home. We do flexi-meals in this flat.
Once or twice a week I check how my books are doing on the mighty Amazon – I have four traditionally published suspense novels, and three self-published. For these three, I have to organise my own promotions, advertising, etc etc. Not my favourite job, but it has to be done.
Housework also tends to be a once or twice a week thing, which always makes me feel guilty. I can still hear my mother’s voice, when I once objected to being told to dust the living room in the school holidays: ‘We have to dust every day, Linda.’ Fortunately, my bookshelves here are white, so you don’t notice the dust much. Honestly.
The nice thing about being self-employed is, I can organise my days according to what’s going on. A moment of inspiration? (Wish I had them more often!) I can drop everything and glue myself to the PC. A beautiful autumn day? Go for a walk through my woods and down to our lovely lake. An afternoon invitation? No problem. I can write in the evening, or just write less that day. One thing I particularly enjoy is wandering through the old town here in Arbon – it’s medieval, to match the castle. Imagine how many feet have wandered along these streets over the centuries.
Living in Switzerland means I don’t get to meet up with other writers as often as I’d like. I had a really great time in England in October, when I popped over to the Bedford area and met up with my publisher and a few writing friends – it’s lovely to meet people in real life! Nobody ever looks much like their profile pic on Facebook…
Linda Huber grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, but went to work in Switzerland for a year aged twenty-two, and has lived there ever since. Her day jobs have included working as a physiotherapist in hospitals and schools for handicapped children, and teaching English in a medieval castle. Not to mention several years spent as a full-time mum to two boys, a rescue dog, and a large collection of guinea pigs.
Her writing career began in the nineties, when she had over fifty short stories published in women’s magazines. Several years later, she discovered the love of her writing life – psychological suspense fiction. Her seventh novel, Death Wish, was published by Bloodhound Books in August 2017.
After spending large chunks of the current decade moving house, Linda has now settled in a beautiful flat on the banks of Lake Constance in north-east Switzerland.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlindahuber/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaHuber19
website: https://lindahuber.net/
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