Sunday Snippet: The What the Heck Happened to Summer? Edition

Seriously… how is it already August 6? I mean, wasn’t it just May and Husband and I were looking forward to our 50th anniversary trip to Oregon and I was busy making plans with my writer pal Carol Light for our trip to San Juan Capistrano and the Tule Author Retreat and checking with my sibs for a visit to my brother’s in Woodland Hills? I’m sure that was just a week ago…

Yikes! Oregon is a fond, wistful memory now. The Tule Author Retreat remains ingrained in my heart and mind as a wondrous time with fellow authors and editors and the Tule team, as well as a fun time traveling and sharing a room with Carol. And the visit to my brother was nice–hot (104 degrees in LA), but nice. Sister PJ and I got to talk a lot and read and swim and we enjoyed time with our brother, his wife, and his kids and grandkids. But all that is over now and we’re into the dog days of August, Grandboy is back to school next week, and the amusement park at the lake will go to fall hours next weekend.

We’re at the city house this week and into next because I simply had to catch up here. Revisions on Jack and Maddie’s book are done now and my editor–God, I love my editor–loved the new opening and the rest of the revisions. Their title is officially Make You Mine, and I can’t wait to see what kind of a cover Tule’s amazing designer comes up with for this story. Whatever it is will carry through the whole series, so I hope it’s something fun and romantic. I got all my print books organized, and even though that means boxes in the dining room, they’re tidy, and frankly, I’m not sure how else to do it. There’s no room for them anywhere else.

I’m deep into promotion for Jo and Alex’s book, Meet Me in River’s Edge, which releases on August 17. Lots of blog stops and podcasts and Q&A and reviewers to send stuff out to. I love to let folks know about my books, but oh, how I wish I had PA or someone who would come and handle all of this for me. Sadly, I’m in no position to afford a PA, although lake buddy Moe is the best book signing assistant ever! For her services, she gets lunch and a bottle of wine… and she so graciously helps me for that mere remuneration. Thank you, Moe–love you big!

I’m also back into copy editor mode with a couple of gigs going–I hope I can edit for a long, long time to come. I really enjoy this work, but I need to get better organized and keep my schedule lighter so I can also continue to write, which I love and enjoy even more. Oh and apropos of nothing at all, my toenail on the big toe of my left foot fell off this week. As Grandboy so aptly put it, “Eeeww!” It was a toe I’d injured in Hawaii, so I guess it was time… but it’s damn ugly right now. I’ll spare you a photo.

Interesting exchange with Son this morning when he checked in to see how his dad and I were doing. I told him I’d finished revisions on Make You Mine and that my editor loved it. Then I admitted that this one was hard as I didn’t really know my two main characters until about halfway through the book. He pointed out, rightly enough, that my saying that seemed like a pattern. “Mom, you seem to always have your story and your characters when you start a book, but every book, you hit a certain point–different with each book–where you say, ‘ah, at last these people are talking to me.’ I think it’s your process, which probably means you need to go back after you’re done with the book and really take a serious, revising kind of look at the characters in the opening of the story before you send it to your editor.” Excellent point, kiddo–that’s probably why he has the PhD after his name and old mom does not. I believe I’ll take that advice under serious consideration.

Gratitude for this week: Son safely home from travel; writing retreat with bestie Liz Flaherty is just two months away; my editor loved my revisions on Make You Mine; time with sis for a mani/pedi; two days with Grandboy, which were a joy as always.

Stay well, stay safe (you might keep a mask handy–we’re in a late summer Covid surge), be kind, and most of all, mes amies, stay grateful!