These “A Day in the Life” posts are my attempt to answer the frequently asked question: “What does a typical writing day look like?” Because the answer is that there is no typical writing day.

This particular day seemed like a good example of both what a travel day looks like—especially as 17 out of 31 days this October were spent traveling!—and also a day in which I didn’t actually do any writing. Oops, spoiler!

6:00 a.m.: Alarm goes off, and I wake up in a Boston hotel, immediately thinking: This is the day I give my first-ever keynote speech!!

6:15: I grab my speech notes and go over them for the gazillionth time.

7:00: Free coffee is now available in the hotel lobby. I run down to grab a cup, then head back to my room to start getting ready.

8:00: A car picks me up to take me to the Teen Librarian Summit in Worcester, MA. I go over my speech notes again.

9:00: Arrive at the Summit. Meet the coordinators and scarf down a small muffin. I never have much of an appetite before I present, but I also don’t want to pass out halfway through!

9:30: The tech guy and I set up my powerpoint presentation with the projector. Librarians start filing in. They all seem super nice and excited, as librarians tend to be. I calm down a little bit. Now that I’m here, I’m actually starting to feel pretty confident about it.

10:00: The coordinators make a few announcements, and introduce me, and it’s Go Time.

10:15-11:15: First Keynote Speech EVER! My speech includes talk of Star Trek, Harry Potter, and some of my favorite science-inspired YA books. It goes great, and I’m so happy that it’s over.

11:30: I sit in on Robin Brenner’s (of www.noflyingnotights.com) awesome and informative breakout session about teenagers and fandom. I adore Robin Brenner. She is a kindred spirit. And I love that her presentation includes talk of authors who got their start writing fanfic—and I’m included!

12:30: Lunch and a little mingling with the librarians. I get lots of lovely comments on my keynote.

1:15: Another breakout session, this one with Brandy Danner, on dystopian and steampunk fiction. I add some books to my TBR list. Because that’s what I needed…

2:15: Time to sign some books!

3:00: A car picks me up and takes me back to the hotel. I am all relief and joy, and mentally drained. I catch up on Twitter during the ride.

4:00: I’m always tempted to hunker down in my hotel room, but tonight I force myself to go down to the lobby and be with the people. I bring THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater, which I’m reading in preparation for our panel together this Saturday at the Boston Book Festival.

6:30: I take my reading into the hotel restaurant to grab some dinner, and I am the only person there. So much for being with the people.

7:45: I only have fifteen pages left in the book, but ARGH, I need to set it down and get ready for the #NaNoPrep Twitter chat which starts at 8:00. I try not to be bitter.

8:00-9:00: Twitter chat with Gennifer Albin (CREWEL) and the folks at NaNoWriMo. Twitter chats are always hectic and fast-paced and I’m dizzy by the end of it, but I hope people are feeling inspired and capable by the end!

9:00-10:30: I turn on the season finale of Project Runway, and finish reading The Raven Boys during commercial breaks—what a great night. I LOVE the book and can’t wait to pick up Book 2: The Dream Thieves at the festival on Saturday. Plus, my favorite designer wins Project Runway. My favorites NEVER win!

10:30: Still on west coast time, I spend a couple hours answering emails before finally crashing a little after midnight.

Words written: 0, but I still consider this a successful day.