Novelist and Creative Director Balances Careers and Steals Moments to Write for Himself — Writer Diary
Brendan Gillen is a writer in Brooklyn, NY. His debut novel, STATIC, was released via Vine Leaves Press in July.
This diary represents a week in his life in which he had his first reading event, wrote and creative directed two pieces for the US Open, queried a new novel manuscript, stole time to write a new project, and more.
Wednesday, August 14
8:00a – Wake up. Coffee. Park ass in chair to work on new novel manuscript about a murder in the world of high-profile college basketball.
11:00a – Switch over to editing scripts for a rapidly approaching commercial shoot for a major sports network in LA. Client has feedback notes. They always have feedback notes. Try to thread the needle, aka, making them happy while also maintaining the integrity of the idea.
1:00p – Make notes/talking points for reading + conversation about my debut novel, STATIC, later in the evening. I’ll be at P&T Knitwear, the rad bookstore on the Lower East Side, talking to fellow Vine Leaves Press author, Sara Hosey.
3:00p – Client call with the US Open to finalize delivery schedule for the launch film I wrote and produced. The piece features a remixed song from the Alicia Keys’ musical, Hell’s Kitchen. Lots of stakeholders to make happy on this one.
4:00p – Creative call with the director who will be helming the LA commercial shoot to discuss storyboards.
5:00p – Try to nap before P&T Knitwear reading. Fail. Too wired.
5:30p – Quick early dinner. Trader Joe’s turkey burger and roasted veggies.
7:00p – Reading & convo at P&T Knitwear. Great turnout! Lots of friends and familiar faces. Fun conversation with Sara, including a band-specific game of f*ck/marry/kill. F*ck Portishead, marry Talking Heads, kill Radiohead. Sorry not sorry.
8:30p – Many a cocktail at a bar around the corner with friends. Super fun, but things get a little blurry.
Midnight – Bed.
Thursday, August 15
9:00a – Wake up, slightly hung over. Could be way worse. Coffee. Then another.
10:00a – Lacking the will and brainpower to work on any new fiction. Make some light line edits on a literary coming-of-age novel manuscript I’m currently querying.
Noon – Record myself reading the first two chapters of Static for Christy Alexander Hallberg’s podcast about music novels, Rock is Lit. Harder than I thought. How in the world do people do full audiobooks?
2:00p – Review rough cuts of US Open launch piece, as well as a piece I wrote and produced for the USTA charity foundation. Cuts are looking great, but the process involves combing through the very dense US Open footage archives for the perfect shots. Time-consuming.
5:00p – Drive down to Red Hook with my girlfriend, Danicah. Wander into Record Shop on Van Brunt Street, one of the greatest record stores on the planet. The owner, Bene, is bumping reggae and pouring plastic cups of wine. Great vibe. He tells me to bring down a couple copies of Static next time I come through. Buy a used copy of a slept-on 80s funk LP by Juicy.
6:00p – Walk across the street to Red Hook Tavern. Have a Negroni, split Caesar salad and a burger, one of the best in the city, with Danicah.
9:00p – Continue to read Thieves, the fantastic novel by Valerie Werder, to prep for a conversation for Full-Stop about the protagonists in Thieves and Static. Turns out both of our main characters are major kleptos.
11:00p – Sleep.
Friday, August 16
8:00a – Friday. Thank God.
9:00a – Send out a few queries for my coming-of-age manuscript.
11:00a – Go over proofs of a short story called, “Lunchbreak,” forthcoming in the fall issue of Sundog Lit. It’s a story about a mechanic who encounters a bear on his lunchbreak and the raw power of the animal leads him to reflect on his life.
1:00p – Flip over to work mode. Scripts for a series of NASCAR commercials. Gotta make them badass. Totally discreet part of the writing brain.
2:00p – Therapy.
3:00p – Review rough cut edits of the two US Open pieces. They’re really coming along.
5:00p – Negroni time (Bombay Sapphire, Campari, Cocchi di Torino).
6:30p – Danicah and I order Vietnamese. We’re both gassed. Her debut short film has been making the festival rounds, so we’ve barely seen each other this month.
8:00p – Watch three episodes of Industry in a row without even trying. Force ourselves to stop there.
11:00p – Read Thieves until I pass out.
Saturday, August 17
9:00a – Wake up, coffee, say bye to Danicah who’s visiting a friend upstate for the weekend.
10:00a – Battle anxiety about how to spend the free day, aka, writing anxiety.
11:00a – Scribble a few paragraphs for the basketball novel.
12:00p – Make a smoothie. I make a mean one, ngl: banana, kale, dates, Fage (full fat), ginger, peanut butter.
1:00p – Work on forthcoming essay for Electric Lit centered around Static, a list of novels I love in which characters get what they want by taking it from others.
3:00p – Head into Manhattan with my camera. Wander the East Village, take some street photos, pop into A-1 Records and Academy Records, regular haunts. Go home with a copy of Illuminations, the ethereally spiritual album by Alice Coltrane and Carlos Santana.
6:00p – Make dinner and a cocktail at home. Watch The Gods of Times Square on Criterion, a doc about the religious fanatics who used to prowl and preach on 42nd Street until it was Disney-fied. Wild snapshot of a bygone NYC.
10:00p – Finish Thieves. So good.
11:00p – Sleep.
Sunday, August 18
8:00a – Wake up rested. Work on basketball novel manuscript.
11:00a – Meet a couple friends at Brooklyn Museum to catch the Paul McCartney photo exhibition before it closes. Beautiful glimpse at the Beatles before they took over the world.
1:00p – Brunch at Cheryl’s around the corner. Always hits.
3:00p – Prep review copies of Static to mail out in the morning. For each copy, I write a handwritten note and include a bookmark that I cut out from album sleeves. DIY, baby. On the back of each bookmark is a QR code to the book soundtrack.
6:00p – Danicah gets back from her weekend upstate. We order lambchops and baba ghanoush from Al Badawi on Atlantic Avenue and catch up while we eat. Possibly the best lambchops I’ve ever had?
9:00p – Start The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins. Trying to absorb the lean pace and rhythms of crime fiction for the basketball novel. Will it work? Who knows, but already loving this book.
11:00p – Sleep.
Monday, August 19
8:00a – Wake up, coffee, work on basketball novel.
9:30a – Head to Cobble Mail around the corner to mail out review copies of Static. The guys behind the counter know me by now. Super nice and reliable.
10:00a – Hustle back for work call to discuss the voiceover session for the USTA Foundation piece I’m producing. I’ll be heading out to Arthur Ashe stadium in Queens in the afternoon to supervise the VO with a tennis legend.
4:00p – Get a car out to Queens. Traffic on the BQE sucks so bad.
5:00p – Get to Arthur Ashe stadium. My contacts at the USTA inform me that the tennis legend’s flight is still in the air. Storms in the area. ETA? Who knows.
6:00p – We wait.
7:00p – And wait.
8:00p – It’s a scratch. Talent has landed but is tired from a long travel day. Can’t blame them. Head home empty-handed. Shit happens.
10:30p – Read. Sleep.
Tuesday, August 20
9:00a – Head BACK out to Queens. Knock out the voiceover session in like, ten minutes. Tennis legend is a pro at this.
11:00a – Prep calls for LA shoot. Will fly out Thursday evening for a tech scout on Friday, shooting the following Monday. At least I’ll have a birthday weekend in LA.
1:00p – Have a phone call with a literary agent that was in my MFA program at CCNY. I just happened to see his profile as I was researching agents for the coming-of-age manuscript. We have a great convo. He fills me in on life “on the inside,” which had always seemed impenetrable, a complete mystery. I have no illusions about the business side of lit life, but it feels like I might finally have an ally. He’s going to take a look at the manuscript. We’ll see.
4:00p – Phone call to prep for tomorrow’s VO session with the Broadway star who’s voicing the US Open launch film.
6:30p – Make dinner at home, lemon shrimp pasta with a watermelon salad.
10:30p – Read. Sleep.
Wednesday, August 21
8:00a – Wake up, coffee, work on basketball novel. Is it sounding rote by now? That’s the goal. Funny thing about writing: if I think too much about writing, I don’t do any writing.
10:00a – Color session for US Open launch piece. The colorist does a killer job on the piece. Not easy, as it mixes archival tennis footage along with material we shot with bucket drummers around New York City.
1:00p – Hustle to a studio near Bryant Park for the US Open VO session. Talent is lovely. She just won her first Tony in her 40-year stage career. Vibes are good. She crushes the session. Client is happy. I’m happy. Happiness all around.
4:00p – Zoe, my awesome publicist at Pine State Publicity emails me to confirm the September run date for the Electric Lit piece and lets me know the Red Hook Star-Revue will be reviewing Static. Psyched that my local paper will be reviewing…and nervous.
6:30p – Danicah and I eat leftovers and book a vacation to Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen. We’re finally taking time off. Can’t wait.
8:00p – Watch a couple episodes of Industry. I’m hooked. Couldn’t care less about the finance world, but the writing is excellent.
10:00p – Pack for LA shoot.
11:00p – Read more Eddie Coyle. Sleep.
Week in Photos
