Enjoying the summer

The page on the calendar has been flipped over. The heading now says "August". I know. I feel it. The humidity makes some days downright soupy. Other days the heat creates invisible walls and when I walk it into it my hair immediately frizzes and my shirt sticks to my skin.

I don't mind summer. It's a time to take it easy. As a parent I'm still running around, our days aren't as regimented--yet. On the writing front I am waiting to hear if I'm going to Rutger's One on One Conference this year. Just today I was thinking of what these past seven months held for my writing. I attended THE BEST writers conference--Unicorn Writers Conference--in Connecticut this spring. I met a wonderful agent there, received a critique, and was asked to submit my entire manuscript to her when I am done with it. Did I say I did a bunch of happy dances? I did!

I have been working on finishing my book, but I don't want to rush it and I decided to take it easy for the next few weeks. Last month I attended a day long writing conference with author Eileen Charbonneau, one of the nicest people I have met during my writing journeys. She helped me tighten up the beginning of my novel (and I'm still in awe of her editing ability). I feel focused and determined. I'm plotting out my novel and working things through. What I'm not doing is the actual writing. I think I'll let it all bubble somewhere in my brain until I'm ready. And maybe I'll cheat and jot some things down. That's okay.

So the summer will end soon, my kids will return to school, and I will return to my keyboard with a vengeance. It's amazing to say despite my slight break from typing, my brain has not stopped with ideas, lines of dialogue still pop up, openings for chapters whisper in the dark, and I miss it. But I won't write. Not yet.

Like I said, it's still summer. There are movies to see, pools to swim in, grass to run barefoot over. There are mental batteries which need recharging. I have been reading a lot and enjoying much of what's out in the market.

I will end my post with this: We all need time to stop and listen to the ocean, watch its waves mingle with grains of sand, but our kids don't stop stop growing and we need to enjoy, experience and spend time with them. The photo I've included is from our vacation in Montauk last month. Have a wonderful rest of the summer!