How does a young author spend her weekends? Generally, it involves a book or racking up the electrical bill on my Mac and/or iPod.

Research: “An arrowslit is a thin vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows. It is alternatively referred to as an arrow loop, loop hole, or archere, and sometimes a balistraria.” How cool is that?!!!!!

I feel smarder already. ;-P Break for Pinterest:

Back to Business: Research medieval weaponry for accuracy (yeah, that’s right: THIS IS A RIGHT OFF! ;-))

My eyes! They burn from all the pinning and computer watching. Coffee and book break time! (It relaxes the rods and cones, I’m sure):

Phew! Now that the Jazz Juice is in my system, I’m ready to hit the books again. . . . And by books, I mean more Internet research (and I assure you it will inevitably end in yet another Pinterest break. “It caaaalls to me. Calls.”)

“Castles first appeared in the ninth and 10th centuries, as Charlemagne’s empire in what is now France, Germany and northern Italy collapsed.” Hmm. Fascinating.

Then when Mom inevitably says I need something called fresh air.

But eventually, I head out to do research, promotions, and my plot notes for Book III outside:

Then I top off my day with some delicious reading material, a snack, a snappy beverage that makes me feel human, and, as of late, more Pinterest. I started a One Direction board for fun–no judgies!–and got stuck on this one girl’s board for HOURS looking for pins. I thought the page would finally end, and then it just kept reloading and reloading. So I eventually glanced up and noticed that she had 14,000 pins on that board, so I gave up. Yeah, I believe that was a wise choice, because the sunlight was starting to scorch my eyeballs.