Welcome to the latest installment of our brand new series Mum vs Life. Each week we’ll feature a prominent Aussie mum and take you through her day.
This week we talk to author Hannah Richell, mum of two and author of two amazing books, Secrets of Tides and The Shadow Year.
Hannah with her daughter
Hannah Richell
WAKE UP
I wake up any time between 5.30am and 7.00am, depending on what time the kids jump on me. I am a morning person – I do my best work before lunch – but I’m never properly awake until the first cup of tea.
The first thing I do when I get up is put the kettle on. It’s cold at the moment, so I’ve been wearing cosy (but deeply unsexy) flannel pyjamas to bed.
BREAKFAST
I try not to leave the house without breakfast, but some days it’s all just too much of a rush and it’s often my breakfast that gets sacrificed. My husband leaves for the office very early, so on weekends, when we’re both around, we take things A LOT more slowly.
BATH vs SHOWER
I shower in the mornings. It wakes me up and helps me feel ready for what’s ahead. I wish it were luxurious but it’s usually rushed. I love that it’s the one space the kids can’t get to me.
I often have my best writing ideas in the shower but of course then it’s a race to get to a notepad, dripping wet, before I lose them (or accidentally flash the neighbours).
GETTING DRESSED
I’d love to be one of those women with a neatly-organised, colour-co-ordinated closet, shoes in boxes with polaroids taped to the front, everything visible and close to hand, but there is no science to my wardrobe. It’s just a random jumble of whatever takes my fancy.
Being a writer means I have no uniform and no real need to dress smartly, (unless I actually fancy it that day) so it’s usually skinny jeans, t-shirts and boots or flats. If I didn’t have to get the kids out of the house in the mornings, I’d probably still be wearing my pyjamas at the end of the day.
WORK
On the days my children are out of the house I work from home, at the kitchen table. On the days our lovely nanny comes to us, I work at my studio.
I’ve just moved in and I’m loving having my own room where I can pin things to the wall and spread my books and papers all around me. It’s just a short walk from where we live, so it’s perfect. I try to arrive by nine am and return home at five thirty pm.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT WORK
Before I became a full-time writer, I worked in marketing, so I’m very used to the office 9-5. I first started to write on maternity leave, as a way to keep the creative side of my brain functioning while I was at home with a small baby. Once I had a full manuscript I sent it out to literary agents in London and got very lucky with a global publishing deal. Now I’m a published author I get paid to work in my own space, on my own schedule, on my own ideas.