In this episode of the Wish I’d Known Then… For Writers podcast, Christine shares a glimpse into her time at the Author Nation conference in Las Vegas. Recorded live during the event, the interview highlights her experience attending sessions, meeting fellow writers, and soaking in the energy of the conference. Christine also reflects on her impressions of Las Vegas itself—its surprises, its atmosphere, and how it felt to explore the city while surrounded by a community of authors. It’s a brief but delightful behind-the-scenes moment that offers readers a window into her journey as both a writer and a conference attendee. You can listen to the podcast episode here: Behind the Scenes at Author Nation – Wish I’d Known Then Podcast (Apple Podcasts )
Episode 17: Bookish Events and Authors We Want To Meet with Guest Co-host Christine Wellert, Author
I’m going to admit something right now. I’m nosy. Not like, look in your trash type of nosy, more like, tell me how you live your life and your innermost thoughts type of nosy. When my fellow authors make posts on Instagram with reels showcasing their lives, I grab the popcorn and settle in to watch. So, I figured that in all fairness, I would post about a normal day in the life for me. Prepare to be enthralled, enraptured, or perhaps mildly entertained. Some of you might know already that I have a muggle job. (Oh, the shame!) I’ve worked as a registered nurse for over ten years now. I’ve tried it all- emergency department, surgery, prep and recovery, a brief stint in primary care, labor and delivery, and case management. So, when I’m not masquerading as the next New York Times bestselling author (hey, it could happen!) I’m working as a nurse. My muggle job dictates how, or more precisely, when my day starts. If I’m working, I start my day at 4:30am. I make my coffee, check emails and IG, and then shoot for at least 500 words on whatever WIP I have going at the time. If the words are flowing and I have time, I’ll keep going. If I’m fighting for each letter, I’ll switch to editing or content creation for social media. My job is an hour and a half drive away, so I’ll load up some writing related podcasts or audiobooks on writing techniques for the drive. Here in Hawaii cell service can be intermittent, so it’s a good time to do some learnin’. If I have the day off, I like to start my day with coffee and oracle cards (I’ll share the decks I use below) and then write in my gratitude journal, followed by my manifestation journal. Then I brew some tea and get to work! For me, I need to start with my WIP first. I find I can tap into that creative side in the morning first thing a lot more easily than if I try to edit or work on the business side of things before writing. Usually by noon or 1:00 I’m tapped out on writing and move on to reaching out to my Bookstagram friends and checking up on any business loose ends that need addressed. By 3:00 or 4:00 I call it a day from a writing/author standpoint and then start on life things like dinner and laundry…😜 Before you get too discouraged thinking ‘I don’t have the flexibility in my schedule to mirror Chris’s day,’ neither do I! Listed above is my ‘perfect’ day for writing, but honestly, it’s pretty rare that my day goes that way. There are usually phone calls from the kids, dog nonsense, hubby needs something, rabbit holes to get lost down, etc. When I’m actively working on a book, I tend to get lost in the writing and lose track of time. Setting a timer on my phone has helped, but I’m open to any suggestions if you have any! One thing I’ve recognized is the need for a better balance between writing, working, and living. Apparently, there aren’t any rich benefactors willing to front me the cash so I could just stay home and write all day, so I’m working on finding a compromise. Figuring out the perfect schedule is a work in progress that I’m fine tuning each week. I know it’s not perfect, and there’s room for improvement, but writing books while juggling jobs, kids, pets, LIFE, requires constant balance and negotiation. And it’s totally worth it!
Do you ever look back on something you did and think to yourself how much sooner you could've accomplished it if you would've been better organized, more disciplined? Same. The journey to finishing Awakened Power was a long one (haha, that's what she said!) full of twists and turns, triumphs and setbacks. Grab some tea and get settled… It was a dark and stormy night… No, that's not right. It was the best of times; it was the worst of times… Okay, that's a little more accurate. I started my book mid-2020, when COVID was the ONLY thing on the news, and I couldn't even go to the grocery store for toothpaste, much less the bookstore or library. Boredom set in really quickly. Luckily, I worked remotely, which gave me plenty of time at home, occasionally avoiding actual work and goofing off instead. (Shhh…. don't tell my boss!) To be fair, my position was really new, and no one quite knew what to do with me. And I tend to grind really hard to get my to do list done so I have more time to goof off. I mean, enjoy other hobbies. Anyhoo, based on a dream I had one night, I started writing a book. I didn't know it would be a book I mostly just wrote about my dream because it haunted me (I was reading a lot of Nora Roberts at the time). Every few days or weeks I would add a little something to it, but not much and not consistently. Over the next few years, I continued to play around with it, but in 2024 I decided at 70,000 words and counting I actually had a book, and I got serious. Even at my most serious I still only got a couple thousand words in here and there, but after my husband had a pretty serious surgery and my life ground to a halt, I used writing as an escape, as a fun little diversion from the worry. One of my first biggest cheerleaders was my sister-in-law, Susie. (Hi Susie!) When I told her about my book, she got so excited, asked me questions about it whenever we talked, and generally rizzed me up (that's cool kid code for making me feel like a rockstar. I think. I looked it up on Urban Dictionary and that is decidedly not their definition.). Susie worked on creating a website for me, and we had weekly meetings discussing my progress on the book and the next steps. Finally, I made myself an actual ironclad schedule (that I followed about as well as any enforced rule… :-)). But it helped me focus and eventually I banged out (again with The Office jokes…) the rest of the book. The first person I sent my first draft to was my friend Sam, so she could be a Beta reader for me (not that I knew that's what it was called at the time). Meanwhile, I paid a developmental editor to edit it for me. I wish I would've read my book through a few more times before I sent it. In all seriousness, when you are writing something, it's hard to see the gaps or holes in your story because you're so close to it. After I got it back from Claire, my editor, I realized, based on her feedback, that I had a lot more work ahead of me. After a few more months of a big overhaul and bushwhacking it down from 100,000 words to 70,000, I reread it again, maybe a hundred more times, then sent it back to Claire. That was ten days ago. No, I'm definitely not biting my nails and pacing nervously… The moral of this very long-winded story for the two people still reading is that I finally got my sh*t together and put in the work to write an actual book! I'm working on my second one now, part of a three book (so far) cozy mystery/romance series that is completely different from my first book. I can't wait to have them published and to show them off to the one or two people that might pick them up by accident…. :-)
