Morning Meetings

And now that I like mornings…

Here’s how our daily morning meetings look.

I get a Ready? text from David and he gets a Yup from me. Facetime sounds. I tap on it. Most of the time I’m already in the kitchen getting coffee and making breakfast. Occasionally, when I sleep in a little (Yes, even though I like mornings I still sleep in. Your girl gets tired from time to time.) I’m in the bathroom getting ready, so the camera faces the ceiling, even if I am decent—it’s just the angle I prefer in that situation. Dave shows up a solid 50% in a bathrobe and the other 50% in street clothes.

We talk about writing projects, the business of writing, and thoughts on future projects. Depending on what stage our current work is at, David or I will ask a lot of questions and volley back and forth through story issues.

Sometimes we have nothing to report so we chat about our lives. Sometimes even that topic is lacking—like nothing happened in the 24 hours between meetings. So it goes something like “Good morning, nothing to report…” We giggle and keep it short.

Special guests

David’s cat usually joins us at some point sitting on Dave’s lap right in front of the camera, demanding his attention and love. So, we pause while Dave acts like he’s annoyed but I know secretly he loves the fur ball.

Why are morning meetings important for us?

There is consistency in meeting daily. Forward progress is steady. Even if it’s only a little, it’s still forward. Meeting daily makes us accountable to each other. Regular meetings spur thoughts on story problems. And whatever questions we may come up with—if left unanswered leave me with 24 hours for pondering a potential solution to story problems. I can mull it over all day and maybe subconsciously through the night.

Recently we talked about some Counios and Gane business. Our chat lead us to other topics that I had opinions on. At some point, Dave asked if I had school. “Yeah, of course. What time is it?” It was ten minutes past the typical time I leave.

“Oh wow, guess I’m not walking to work today.” I was tickled.

What made me happy about running behind?

The best part of that moment was that momentarily, I forgot that I was a teacher. I was living my post-teacher life, (which I am anticipating like nobody’s business in the absolute best way). The ebb and flow of starting with talking to my writing partner, not gearing up for the day ahead with teens, and carrying on with the tasks of being an author is my precious future. Losing time in the morning because I was caught in my meeting with David was a feeling of “This! this—this is the life I’m striving for.”

As always thank you for reading lovelies.