Another Productive Day in the Life of a Writer

Readers, it's a REAL TREAT to host guest G.P. Gottlieb today! You KNOW anyone writing a book using "Whipped" in their title must be good:

On Tuesday, I sit at my desk, turn on my computer, and check my inbox, hoping for good news of some kind, but every morning, I’m inundated with sales, political updates, and organizations seeking my attention or money. I read and respond to some, block or delete others. New ones pop up each day, and unless one of my essays or stories gets accepted, or I hear from friends and family, they’re rarely inspiring.

I’d prefer to start my day by working on my current WIP before checking the inbox, but I’m like a 19^th century lady-of-the-house going through the letters a servant has just handed to me (on a silver tray, with a curtsey). Although my ancestors were busy struggling to survive and didn’t have servants, I’m pretty sure that when a piece of mail got delivered, they stopped chopping wood or harvesting potatoes to read it.

When I’m finally ready to work on a writing project, I usually do a quick read-through from where I ended the previous day. Then I’m off and running as a kind of hybrid between ‘plotter’ and ‘pantser.’ I especially like the stage when the story is flexible enough for me to saunter off in a different direction, kill a character or two, change someone’s hair color and background, and redirect the arc.

I spend some time going back over a scene that isn’t working, in which a character recalls an incident twenty-five years before in which his now-dead father tried to pay a gambling debt by selling his daughter to a lecherous mob boss. It feels like it needs to be more honest and sensitive, which is going to take more thought, so I’ll come back to it later.

I’m immersed in the next scene, from the perspective of the teenage grandson of the guy with the gambling debt. Another hour goes by when the phone rings, It’s the hospital calling me to schedule a procedure that involves fasting. Of course the thought of fasting makes me crave a snack, but it takes fifteen minutes to agree on a date for the procedure.

Now my concentration is broken, so I go to the kitchen for a cup of tea and a cookie I baked the day before. It’s a new vegan recipe I’m testing, and the flavor is lovely, but it’s too soft and crumbly, so I’ll try again. It takes me fifteen minutes to pull together the ingredients. This time I’ll let the dough rest a good long time in the fridge. That sometimes helps with cookies that don’t hold up.

Back at my desk, I notice that my inbox has filled up again, but instead of something I’d enjoy (like a dinner invitation) it’s announcements, requests for donations, and newsletters by fellow authors that I signed up for because we need to support each other. I’d rather read their books than their newsletters, but I love perusing their book recommendations (and recipes, especially for desserts!).

Twenty minutes have zipped by, and I’m still wading through the murky email waters, deleting sales pitches, enraged political rants, and requests for support from a myriad of non-profits. When I finally manage to get back into the mind of my teenage character, I’ve forgotten what I imagined happens next. Does the kid know something about the murder, or is he stirring another bowl of red herrings? I try crafting a clue, but it seems forced, so that’s another dead end.

Shoot, I haven’t prepared questions for my Wednesday interview. I’ve interviewed over 250 authors as host for new books in literature (a podcast channel on the New Books Network), and it takes several hours to read the book, write a description and introduction, and form questions. Some of these books are breathtaking and deserve a huge audience, but even fabulous authors struggle to find readers, and even books published by large, well-known publishers sometimes slip away unnoticed and forgotten.

Suddenly, I remember that I offered to drop off dinner and dessert at a sick friend’s house. I tell myself that it’s writing-related because I’ve already started the cookie recipe, hopefully a good fit for the 4^th installment in my Whipped and Sipped Mystery series (launching in the summer of 2026). I hurry to the kitchen, preheat the oven to bake the cookies, and chop onions and vegetables to make a nutritious Vegan Bolognese that will simmer into an intoxicating sauce to pour over pasta or rice.

That reminds me of the story I’m working on, but it’s too late in the day for my brain. I won’t be at my desk again until the morning, but as I remove the cookies from the oven, I pride myself on another productive day.

Get started with Battered, the first Whipped & Sipped Mystery

BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF BATTERED: A WHIPPED & SIPPED MYSTERY

Available at Bookshop.Org, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords

Alene Baron lives in a Chicago lakefront high-rise and owns the nearby Whipped and Sipped Café, which serves decadent but healthful pastries and drinks. After she comes across the dead body of a friend in her neighbor’s apartment, Alene calls the police and dashes home — to make soup for her family. Then she starts listing suspects. Was it her philandering ex-husband, the victim’s ex-spouse, or the victim’s ill-tempered sister, who is one of Alene’s employees at the café? There’s another mystery, closer to Alene’s heart: Is the lead Chicago PD detective going to take her seriously or will he turn out to be as untrustworthy as her ex?

G. P. Gottlieb, Mystery Author

About Author G.P. Gottlieb…

GP Gottlieb is the author of the Whipped and Sipped Mystery Series (Battered was re-released 9/2025 in Paperback, Kindle and Nook). She’s a member of the Blackbird Writers, on the Sisters in Crime Chicagoland Board, and active in SinC Colorado. She likes posting on Facebook, reads voraciously, and has interviewed over 250 authors for New Books in Literature, a podcast channel on the New Books Network. Her stories have been published in Pure Slush, Another Chicago Magazine, Grande Dame Literary, and other journals and anthologies. Over 250 of her essays on travel, music, culture, writing, and things that annoy her are available in various publications at Medium.Com.