Today is the first day of summer. Hooray! Summer, for me, is a get out of jail free card. Not like it was in school, certainly, but it marks the end of many obligations. Most of them are things my kids do all through the school year, but some are my own. Now that summer's here, we enjoy a brief respite from the must-dos.
Which leaves me with more free time to write. Right? Well, sure, as long I don't start playing Chuzzle or start on the to-be-read pile of books or hit my Netflix queue with a vengeance. Fortunately, my dear friends have recently challenged me to write a brand new sort of book for me. One that has the back of my mind buzzing with activity. The new idea has made me listen harder to conversations, read my mail more closely, pay attention to things I normally wouldn't.
A new book is like a new relationship in that way. It changes something profound about the way you view things around you. Now, I am filtering everything through my new heroine's point of view. I am considering the type of vehicle my hero drives. The kind of house my heroine would live in. Where her friends would live. What sort of jobs they have. The potential is limitless, like it is in that new relationship. Soon enough, I will start to hem my characters in, give them roots and problems and crazy family members. For now, though, summer is new and so is the book. Anything could happen. It's so exciting!
So, what is the brand new summer calling you to do? Laze by the pool? Watch a pile of movies? Keep your nose to the grindstone by day and party through the twilit evening hours? Tell us your summer plans!
15 comments:
Oh, and major apologies to all our friends south of the equator, where it is now winter. I didn't mean to be northern hemisphere-centric. Is your winter as dreary and dull as it is for us in the north? Or are you determined to have a brilliant winter, full of days spent writing by the fire?
My husband is a teacher, so he spends the summer taking care of our two little ones while I keep my nose to the grindstone at work. Still, having him home means everything is easier--I don't have to take the kids to day care/school, we've got someone home to do laundry, dishes, and shop for groceries, and if the kids get sick, he's there to take care of them! It's a huge break from the non-stop stress of a family with two working parents.
I don't really get to read or write more over the summer, but we usually take at least one family vacation, which is always something to look forward to.
BTW Caren, I'm finishing up some revisions to my last book, and itching to start something new! You're making me jealous! :-)
My family and I just love playing Chuzzle!!!
School has been out in Georgia for 3 weeks now and my kids are bored. Yep, bored all ready. Now me, I can think of a thousand and one things to do with my time. If I only had the time!
Oh, Kirsten, how wonderful! It really is an ideal situation. My husband worked from home the past four years and it was blissful for me. He did the taxi service and got the kids to appointments/practice/rehearsals and everything else. Just wonderful!
Buffie, isn't it painful to you that your darling children can't find anything to do? When mine pull that, it makes me crazy! I would be content to loll by the pool and read books or listen to music or tap away on my AlphaSmart. Apparently, that's because I'm boring. *g*
Buffie, I agree that Chuzzle is the best. So addictive, though! I got my girls hooked on it, so that helps to while away some of their "bored" time. I alternate between playing the timed rounds with locks and the Zen game, which you can play forever. I may need an intervention! *g*
Summer is usually busy for us. Visitors and travelling (not long until Dallas!). We normally tack on an extra trip after Nationals so we can explore the US, since our time here is limited.
This year, though, we're spending a week in our favourite city - Charleston. Reading, beaching, eating fab food (chances of my GH dress being tight are high!).
Workwise, I'll start on requested revisions on my current GH book, Mortgaged Hearts. Though, my mind is already buzzing with ideas for my next new book ... about a puck bunny and a hockey player *grin*.
Anna, I love Charleston, too! I'm also worried about the fit of the awards ceremony address after all the chocolate consumption in Switzerland. The chocolate was fabulous (the milk chocolate at Shuh in Interlaken was voted best in the world!), but so high in calories. Ack!
I fear the gym will figure heavily into my pre-conference summer plans. After that, I may sleep in one day.*g*
Can't wait for the hockey book, at last!
I have no idea what chuzzle is, and I'm afraid to click the link and find out! I have no time for new obsessions. :-(
We have a jam packed summer planned, plus I have to finish a book sometime in there. The good thing is, I've just reached the good part, where it all starts to flow. The bad thing is, I reached it just as the kids are about to get out of school!
Say a prayer for me, ladies!
I'm 40 pages into Book 3 (Bran)and very, very excited about it. My goal is to get the first draft done by summer's end.
I don't know what chuzzle is either but my current distraction is playing online Jeopardy. I LOVE Jeopardy and would love to be a contestant on it some day.
And Charleston. Wow. My crit group and I went there for 4 days before Atlanta last year. Stayed in the carriage house of The Palmer mansion/B& B right on the Battery. (It's the pink one on the corner). My God, I fell in love with that place. Never truly realized how far back THEIR history went and loved the uniqueness and charm of the city and the people. (The shirtless joggers on the Battery wall didn't hurt either :-)
Sigh. I wish I were independently wealthy and could travel all the time.
I forgot to add - my computer game addiction is Wonderland. (www.midnightsynergy.com). All of the games are totally addictive - especially their latest Wonderland Adventures. I have to ration myself or I'd spend all day playing!
We always stay in the John Rutledge House - another place where George Washington apparently laid his much-travelled head. Interstingly though, he visited Mrs Rutledge when Mr Rutledge wasn't home!
Oh, my on the George Washington adventures, Anna! And curses for sharing even more addictive gaming sites. For shame!
Joan, so cool that you're at the beginning too! It's the greatest feeling in the world, isn't it? Yeah, until right about Chapter 6...
But joggers on the Battery, yum! Man, now you've made me want to go to Charleston again and I haven't even recovered from jet lag. Oh, well, Dallas in a couple of weeks. Yahoo!
Well, until the RWA Conference is over, you all can just call me Miss RWA All-The-Time. :) After that, I've said I'm taking a solid week to do nothing but read (for fun!) and watch movies to recuperate. Then I'm going to start revisions on another book that I want to market in a different way than it was before.
Hi Caren,
No worries, mate! It doesn't get very cold in Brisbane, where I live. Even in the depth of winter the temperature doesn't often get below 10 degrees Celsius. I am a cold frog, though, so I'm jealous of y'all just heading into summer! Hope you have fun, whatever you decide to do!
Summer turns me upside down
Summer summer summer
It's like a merry-go-round
I see you under the midnight
All shackles and bows
How far will you take it
Well no one knows....
(Thank you Ric Ocasek and the boys!)
Hi! I'm going to spend my summer listening to 80's music and ignoring the big 4-0 lurking around the corner. Because, really, I'm still about 15 years old at heart!
Um, good luck with ignoring the 4-0, Suse. Being young at heart is what it's all about, no matter what the calendar says!
My own 4-0 is becoming a fond memory, but it didn't bother me at the time. Since it has passed, though, my body has begun to fall apart. I greatly admire the 50-something women at my gym, jogging away on the treadmill! My knees already say NO to that, so it won't be me. *g*
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