A day in the life of a novelist

I often get asked about my writing process: what it looks like, where it takes place, how exactly a novel makes the miraculous transition from idea to manuscript.

And while I wish I had a tidy, pretty answer, the truth is that I, like many other authors, do not exist in a literary bubble. 

I have an active life in Charlottesville, with four young children, as well as a host of other commitments that fight to occupy my time and attention. Between book events, essay writing, connecting with other authors and the never-ending work of self-promotion, it can be a struggle to carve out time for the actual work of writing.

Which means, to put it simply, I write when I can, however I can. My debut novel, “The Moonlight Healers,” a magical realism story about a family of nurses with a mysterious healing touch, which came out in early 2025, was written in fits and spurts over roughly two years. I wrote and edited in between preschool drop-off and pickup, or late at night, on my couch snacking on Goldfish, while the rest of my family slept.

For my second manuscript — a novel about loss and family set against the backdrop of Chincoteague Island lore — I at least attempted to create some semblance of routine. Here is a peek:

The setting

My “office” is a fluid concept rather than a concrete place. I wrote at least 75% of my second manuscript at the gym while my baby was in child care, usually in one of their common areas overlooking indoor tennis courts.

My office has, also, at various times been my crumb-strewn minivan, my bedroom, my living room couch, a shaded lounge chair at the pool, the waiting room of a doctor’s office, an idyllic retreat in Lovingston, and a local Charlottesville coffee shop that makes whimsical shapes in their latte foam.

I can’t be too precious about where I write, and if I have somewhere relatively comfortable to sit, and access to caffeine, pretty much anywhere will do.

The time

I am a morning writer. I always have been, even from the days of cramming in my high school homework at the breakfast table. My brain works most efficiently between the hours of 6 a.m. and noon, and I try to do most of my writing in that window. When I am drafting something new, my goal is typically a thousand words a day. I usually have a bit of a warm-up process, taking several passes at the first couple of pages before settling into a rhythm, what some writers might refer to as being “in the zone,” where the prose flows easily and without a lot of stops and starts. 

I do not revise as I draft but rather wait until I’ve reached the end of a manuscript before returning to fix any major problems, ideally after I’ve gotten feedback from my agent, who generally offers big-picture notes. My first revision will address any major issues with the plot or character arcs.

The inspiration

The earliest seeds of my ideas often come from setting. I moved to Charlottesville in 2020, and the first little sparks of “The Moonlight Healers” came after visiting a gorgeous peach orchard in Crozet, which became the inspiration for the novel’s fictional Winston Orchard. My second manuscript was inspired by Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Local storied Appalachian vineyards like Barboursville and Jefferson inspired a third book idea that is currently in the early stages. 

Theme often comes early for me as well. For “The Moonlight Healers,” that theme was healing and what it means in the context of both life and death. After I decide what themes I want to tackle, I will flesh out the characters and how their journeys mirror those themes. But I’ve never started a novel without a full understanding of where it takes place and why that matters.