Day in the Life of Barbara McMahon

I love being a writer--it allows me to do just what I want to do almost all the time. I start my mornings around 7 a.m. I used to get up at 4:30 a.m. for my "day job". When I quit that in 1992 to write full time the first thing I did was adjust my wake up time. Often I waken earlier, but I rarely get up before 7! It's so much fun to snuggle in the covers and know I don't have to be anywhere at any time.

After showering and dressing, I take my dog for a romp. He loves to go for walks, and I like the exercise, too. We live in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California so there are plenty of hills to challenge us. I try to pick the flattest area near us, but there's very little that's flat around here. We are surrounded by soaring ponderosa pines, white and yellow firs, incense cedars and some mountain oak. Many of the trees are old so they tower 80 feet or more in the air. Because the forest is so thick, there aren't many places to look for a view--just a glimpse now and then between the trees. But with the dark green of the evergreens contrasting with the deep blue of the clear sky and the cool, fresh air, it's a wonderful place to walk!

After we return home, S'Mores settles down a little and I have breakfast. Then it's on to work!

I often think I'm like Pavlov's dog. I have a certain routine I follow faithfully and it gets me into the writing mode instantly. If I've already started a story, I review what I wrote the day before. Sometimes I edit as I'm reading, but usually it's review to get me back into the story line. Then I insert a CD of classical music into my CD player--the exact same CD I've used for ten years--to get into the mood to write. Once the music starts, I'm off. After a while, I don't consciously hear the music, or anything else going on around me. I'm in a world of my own, in my head and on the computer screen.

If I'm lucky I can write nonstop until 12:30 or 1:00. Usually, however, S'Mores needs to make at least one trip outside. Which is probably good, since I can use the break from the computer.

When I stop for the day, I have lunch. Then the afternoon is mine!

Depending on my mood, I check e-mail and respond to as many as I can. However, after writing all morning, I'm not usually in the mood to wax eloquent on correspondence, so often postpone lengthy responses until another time.

My hobby is genealogy, so if I'm in the middle of a quest, I devote time to that.

One afternoon a week, I head for one of our pioneer cemeteries (from the days of the California Gold Rush) to transcribe tombstones. It's a project that's on-going. We have 19 cemeteries in our county and my goal is to get all the tombstones transcribed and posted on the Internet for those looking for family in our county.

Some days I'll meet a friend for lunch and we'll while away the afternoon in conversation and laughter.

Or, once in a blue moon, I might really feel ambitious and dust and vacuum the house!

By the time my husband gets home, dinner is ready and I'm glad for some conversation. Evenings are spent on the various projects we have going, from more genealogy research, to sorting and labeling photographs (that's endless), to putting together our latest 3-D puzzle. If the day is Friday, we have pizza for dinner and watch a movie!

Another quick walk for S'Mores and it's off to bed. As I'm drifting off to sleep, I'm planning what's going to happen in the book tomorrow. Can't wait to find out how it's going to turn out.