I have been loving this summer. Colorado has been the perfect combination of sunny days with temperatures mostly in the 80s and enough rain to keep the whole state green well into July. I’m writing this in my backyard, under the shade of our awning with the barest of breezes to rustle the tress. I feel so lucky to live here and to be able to enjoy this time.
Speaking of time, for some reason I counted the days until I return to work for the 2019-2020 school year. It’s 19 in case you’re wondering. Which is neither here nor there other than I have been wanting to get a big jump start on my second women’s fiction novel (due to my publisher in the Spring of 2020) before having my attentions divided. Today I hit the 16,000 word mark (it’s planned for 90,000) and while I’d ideally like to be further along, I’m feeling really good about the start I have here.
For some reason, the start of a book is always a bit slow for me. Getting to know my characters and deciding on settings seems to take me some time. It feels like those things are established at this point, at least for one of my main characters. I’m getting ready to jump into the story of my second mc, so hopefully the momentum doesn’t slow down and I can head into the school year with a running start.
If you follow along on Facebook or Instagram, you know my son and I just returned from a trip to Maui to celebrate his 15th birthday. When my daughter turned 15 she and I went to London for the week–it was something special I wanted to do with each of them, just the two of us. We stayed at The Whaler condos in Kaanapali Beach and had a fantastic time with our rented convertible. Hiking trails off the road to Hana, coursing zip lines, and we even woke up at 2:00 AM one day to make it up to the top of Haleakala in order to watch the sunrise. It’s a trip neither of us will soon forget and I look forward to returning soon with the whole family.
Traveling is always a treat for me, but it has been nice to get home and get back to a writing routine. I have one more summer excursion planned, a weekend girls’ trip to Breckenridge right before I plunge back into the whirlwind school year. I’m considering driving separately so I can stop at the Breckenridge library on my way home. It’s such a wonderful place write.
