Behind-the-Scenes: A Day in the Life of Krista & Becca (2022 Update) (Patreon)

Hello, lovelies! We've had two previous posts about a day in our life. Once, back in 2018 (written by the ah-mazing Krista), and then one post-Covid in 2021 (written by me, second-born twin and the comic book lover who has been dethroned by her very own twin -- yes, she usurped me in reading comics last year 😆). And now we're back with an update on a day in our lives! 

Things have actually changed a bit, and mostly, it's due to the kind of workload we have. So let's dig in! 

We started both posts from 2018 and 2021 talking about how it's difficult to paint a picture of a typical work/writing day of ours because every day can look different. But mostly, days are consumed with nonstop writing, especially near deadlines. 

This is still very much the case, but we'd say that we've been able to handle swerves throughout the day a lot better than we ever have in the past. 

With the Addicted series being rereleased partially in 2022 and mostly in 2023 and a bit in 2024, we've had a lot of different kinds of things drop in on us at random moments. From copy edits, pass pages, and bonus scene deadlines -- our schedule has been carefully crafted between those, the Dishonestly Yours trilogy slated to come in 2024, writing & podcasting for Patreon, and writing our main indie books (Like Us series FTW!), and we really realized that we couldn't maintain the same hours we used to in the past. 

They were sleepless, chaotic, night-owl hours. If balance was the theme of 2021, then structure became the new theme of 2022. 

Have to shout out to Krista who also formats all the interiors of new editions, and she's been working so hard on the Like Us series Special Edition interiors. Love you, Krista! And big thanks to Haley for the GORGEOUS illustrated cover art! Couldn't do them without you!

THE MORNING

We never thought the day would come, but we both have become early birds. Our relationships & love we found from 2019 and beyond are still going super strong, and we always thought we'd suck at writing in the morning. 

We had it in our heads for over a decade that we couldn't write productively in the morning. We learned to write at 12 and 14 by coming home from school at 3 p.m. and writing until the wee hours in the night. 

Well, there is something about having people in your life remind you that you can do anything. That you just have to try and believe in yourself, and honestly, our characters give that advice so much, it's sort of funny we needed to hear it too.

So we really gave it a shot in 2022 because we knew we needed to restructure our day to optimize writing hours better (and be healthier, as stress is never good). 

We love it. 🌥🐥

Like, really love it. We've found it's easier to complete a chapter super early in the morning and then let the other read it rather than begin a day with a writer's room chat. 

So we wake up and work on writing content (this could be bonuses or books or edits). 💝

My wake-up time: 4:30 a.m. - 5:30 a.m. Krista rises around 6 a.m. (she goes to bed later). I always enjoyed the morning, but we never immediately woke up and wrote like we do now. We'd catch up with social media, emails, messages, etc. first.

Since we've needed to focus so much more on content, things like social media have slacked a little, but we know it's for the better because it means we're able to meet deadlines and write more. Still, we are hoping to carve out a bit more time for it, when we can.

Home gym workouts 🥊

Before lunch, we try to workout a bit. It definitely helps keep our moods upbeat. Even though we no longer go to kickboxing, the classes we take at home added kickboxing to their programs, which is super exciting! 

THE AFTERNOON

Lunch, Emails, Writer's Room 💻📝

After lunch (sometimes beforehand), we'll try to check on emails & messages, and do a little social media, if we can. This'll change, depending on the day. Some days, it's easier to check Instagram earlier in the morning, still. 

But at this point, we've both likely sufficiently finished a chapter, half a chapter, or whatever we'd been working on, and we'll switch and read each other's before the second half of the day. 

So we'll chat a ton about the direction of the book or project we're working on together, and then we'll continue on! 

Writing, writing, more writing! 📖

We've been preparing for when we no longer live together, so a lot of 2022 was us figuring out ways to write and check in without having to physically go to the person. Hence, lots of phone calls and FaceTime! It's been really fun, actually, to shake things up (and we're trying not to be all sappy about the end of an era together, or else we'll start tearing up.) 

Signed paperback store 📚

Last year, we were trying to find ways to make this easier on us since we realized we just didn't have time to handle this operation solely ourselves anymore. And luckily, it's now smooth sailing and no longer all on our shoulders, so packaging books isn't such a big part of our day, but it still exists for those wanting signed books, which we're so happy about. 

Frodo cuddles 😻

He still wants all the cuddles, and our fur baby gets more attention now than ever before. He is a spoiled Hobbit lol

THE NIGHT

We read more of each other's writing and plan the next day. 

So after we've finished our afternoon writing goals, we check in again and read each other's new chapter/progress. We make notes and plan what we'll both be working on the next day, and we end a bit before dinnertime. 

It's a much healthier schedule than we've kept in the past, and the structure has actually helped us produce more content than before. We've also given ourselves a bit of grace when we have to neglect social media in favor of writing. It can be really hard because we really love interacting with everyone, but if we're not careful, it can eat at our writing time -- and there've been soooo many things we've wanted to write in 2023 (and beyond!) that we know focusing on writing will be worth it in the end. 

That said, being on Patreon is a super happy place for us, and we're so happy when we can be here. It's the most frequented place for us 💖

Sleep!

In 2021, we said: no matter if we're on deadline or not, we try our best to clock in more hours of sleep and not just run off caffeine. That's still true! We write more when we stick to the schedule, we've found. 

The Weekend

We'll work on the weekends if we need to catch up on anything, but weekends still look a lot more like weekends than they used to. Looking back at our posts from 2018 and 2021 regarding the weekends always makes us tear up and get emotional. We talked about the fear of irrelevancy and working ourselves sick with zero breaks for five years, where we literally never stopped, and then finally allowing ourselves to rest. 

It's been a long road, and we're just so incredibly grateful we've been given the chance to take it. Thank you for helping us follow our dream. We've said it many times, but Patreon has helped us emotionally, mentally, financially -- and you've all changed our lives for the better. It's still true to this day, and we've fallen more and more in love with writing. These have been some of the happiest years with the Hales, Meadows, Cobalts, and you, and we're so thankful for all of you being here and the support you've given us. 

We hope that these characters and books have given you boosts of happiness too, and they'll always be there when you need them most. 

💖 xoxo Becca