A Day in the Life: Ghenet Myrthil

You know what I had to do to convince the astonishingly adorable Ghenet Myrthil to give me a Day in the Life? I went all the way to New York City this summer and forced her to eat lunch with me. Trufax.

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I'm so excited to participate in Sophia's Day in the Life series! I work full-time in book publishing in New York City, and the rest of the time, I write young adult novels. It can sometimes be tough to balance everything, but I always find time throughout the day to squeeze in reading and writing. Here's what a day this past summer looked like:

6:30 am: My first alarm goes off. I turn it off and fall back asleep.

6:45 am: My second alarm goes off. I reluctantly open my eyes and grab my iPhone. Yes, I'm one of those people who checks her email first thing in the morning. And Instagram. And my RSS reader app. And Pinterest. Obsessed, much? I admit it!

7:00 am: I get out of bed, hop in the shower, and get dressed. CBS This Morning plays in the background. I also get my breakfast and lunch together to bring to work.

8:15 am: If I'm lucky, my husband can drive me to the train station. If not, I either take the shuttle bus or walk. Today, I'm lucky! I hop in the car with him and we drive for 5 minutes to the station.

8:25 am: I wait for my train and marvel at the pretty view of the Hudson River. While I wait, I listen to a This American Life podcast episode on my iPhone.

8:30 am: Train's here. Off to the city I go! I usually use this time to read. Today, it's an ARC of Skinny by Donna Cooner.

9:00 am: I arrive at Grand Central and walk a few blocks to work.

9:15 am: Before I go inside, I make a pit stop at Au Bon Pain, where I get my usual coffee - French vanilla, soy milk, two sugars.

9:20 am: I settle in at my desk, have my coffee and breakfast (fruit and a cereal bar), and answer emails. Working in book publishing is awesome, but my workday is pretty typical of any office job. Lots of emails with meetings sprinkled in between. The best part is being surrounded by so. many. books.

1:00 pm: I take my lunch break. Since it's nice out, I bring my lunch outside. I find a seat on a bench and balance my salad on my lap as I read more of Skinny. This time of day, midtown Manhattan is packed with people eating lunch outside. The pigeons join us.

2:00 pm: I'm back in my office for the next few hours, answering more emails, and taking a break or two to chat with my coworkers. At one point, I stare out my office window at the huge super-weed that's been growing like crazy on the roof outside. A little greenery in this concrete jungle!

5:30 pm: Work day's over! Now it's time for my favorite part of the week - Write Nite! Once a week, a few writer friends and I meet at a nearby Manhattan cafe to write. We don't critique each other's work. We just break out our laptops/notebooks and spend 2+ hours focusing on our WIPs. We are surprisingly productive when we're together. I walk the 10 blocks to the cafe to meet the girls, while listening to another podcast. (Another favorite is This Creative Life by Sara Zarr.) On the way, I pass through Rockefeller Center.

6:00 pm: I arrive at the cafe, grab a beverage and chat with the girls for a few minutes about how our writing is going. 6:10 pm: Enough chit chat. Time to get down to work. I work on revising my manuscript, based on feedback I received from beta readers and an SCBWI conference critique.

8:00 pm: Our writing session is over. While I was writing, my husband texted me to say he could swing by the cafe on his way home from work so I don't have to take the train. Score! On the ride home, I snap pics of the gorgeous NYC sunset. Moments like this make me love this city.

8:45 pm: My husband and I get home and eat dinner. On many nights, I work on my novel or write a blog post, but since I just came from Write Nite, I spend some quality time with my husband instead. We watch some TV (So You Think You Can Dance FTW!) and then around

11:00 pm, I go to bed. Gotta get my 7-8 hours of sleep! Thanks for having me, Sophia!  

Ghenet Myrthil is a young adult writer with an MFA in Writing for Children from The New School. She’s currently seeking representation for her first novel. You can find her blogging at www.ghenetmyrthil.com, tweeting @ghenet, and on Instagram.