Welcome to Day 2 for Author J. Aday Kennedy-

Klutzy Kantor is fun and the illustrations are adorable. Read about how Children's author J.Aday Kennedy goes about her writing to create great books like her new book about Klutzy.




Day 2 The Writer's Life with Author J. Aday Kennedy




I spend my days writing unless I have a speaking engagement or book signing. A typical day begins at 7:00 am. I’m a quadriplegic and on a ventilator.

My caregiver, Jackie, arrives and feeds me through a feeding tube in my stomach. When that task is completed I am bathed and my lung therapy and physical therapy are conducted. During these times I listen to children’s books on tape.

Frequently a writing idea will come to me and Jackie will write them down for me so that I do not forget. It’s extremely frustrating when writing ideas are churning in my mind in the middle of the night, and I have to wait to write the stories.


I am very impatient and hate waiting. Yet, daily I spend the first five hours waiting for the time my “real life” can begin (therapy ends).

Around 11:30 or 12:00 my therapy ends. Some days I sit in my wheelchair and must dress and don a pair of tight hose and a tight band around my waist to maintain my blood pressure. Many days I stay in bed. My desk rolls over my bed and the height can be adjusted as necessary. Around the perimeter of my computer monitor I have my goals, motivational slogans and a list of traits I felt were indicative of me or that I hope to be in the future. Before I begin writing I read my goals aloud ten times. Then I read my confidence boosters ten times. I call this my daily brainwashing.

My next step is my thirty minute to one hour bible study. Currently I’m studying Corinthians 2. After I pray and thank God for the blessings in my life, it is time to get down to business. I’m a scatter brain and have to follow a structure or I am going in a hundred directions at once. I write a list of the things I need to accomplish. I pick and choose what to do first. As the day progresses I check them off. Whatever I don’t accomplish is transferred to the next day’s list.

The most challenging part of the day is writing and typo hunting. My stroke causes my hand-eye-coordination to be off. For every sentence I type, I expect at least four typos. I’m legally blind which makes them difficult to find.

If the muse strikes I ignore the list and write. I force myself to work on my current book project. On the days my mind is a blank I still write, but in my journal. I interview a character, brainstorm or write about my frustration over not being able to write. No matter how I feel or how awful my prose is, I write. Writer’s block is not a good enough excuse not to write.

I end the day with email around 11:30pm.

Be sure to follow day 3 of the tour for J. Aday Kennedy at the blog of author Nicole Weaver.

  http://melangeofcultures.wordpress.com/