
Summer with four kids is busy. SO BUSY. There are some days where I don’t sit down from the time I wake up til the kids go to bed at night. You can imagine how that effects my writing time. I still write at night when the world is filled with blissful “now I can think” kind of silence but that’s only a few hours and I tend to get a bad case of “falling asleep while writing” when I only write at night. Plus I need to take SOME time to breathe and you know what they say about Summer Nights….”Well-a, well-a, well-a, uh!”
Since signing with Lake Union I’ve been doing a lot of work filling out a questionnaire for the publisher, getting author photos, setting up an author page and all that other fun stuff. All my work has been writing related but not many words have been added to my WIP or any other stories in the past two weeks. Two weeks feels like forever and I’m starting to miss the characters that populate my stories. I feel like they’re paused in this strange limbo just waiting for me to come back before they can keep living their lives.
So, to the characters waiting oh-so-patiently inside my stories: I will see you soon. I’m looking forward to jumping back into your messy, entertaining and emotional lives but for now I have a few things to say.
From my WIP BEYOND:
Steve- Don’t forget to feed the kids something more than Goldfish crackers. I know you just got some bad news but don’t worry, it’s only going to get worse before it gets better 😉
Natalie- When I left you, you were out for a run. Sorry! Bet those legs are getting tired after two weeks. You’ll deserve a virtual massage after this workout.
Will- I may have given you just a little too much time to look at that brochure. I have a feeling you might notice a familiar face there if you keep looking for too long. Better get back to writing this one, FAST.
From edits on FRAGMENTS:
Lillian: Left you burning up in that hot sun on the raft. Don’t you wish the battery on that beacon had been functional? Geeze, what bad luck *Evil laugh*
Dave: You’re lucky enough to be passed out. Gonna be a looong nap. Just snuggle up in some corner of that inflatable raft and enjoy the rest. It’s not going to happen again for a long long time.
Kent: I have one word for you–SUNBURN. SO.MUCH.SUNBURN.
From my “for fun” YA fantasy side project, SNOW. This baby’s been on pause since February. Poor thing:
Raven: So, right now you’re washing the biggest sink full of dishes ever but at least it’s with a prince by your side. Maybe he likes you when he thinks you’re nothing but a pretty peasant girl but he doesn’t know who you really are. And girl, you’ve gotta stop looking at yourself in the mirror. Seriously. Stop it. RIGHT NOW.
Cal: Dude. You are putting everything on the line for this girl, lying to royalty, hiding a fugitive. Be careful. You have a lot in common with her but remember–you are a dwarf. Traditionally the dwarf doesn’t end up with the girl. To make matters worse now she’s getting all friendly with the prince. Jealous much?
George: I think you are learning how to dry dishes at the moment with servant girl Nessa/Princess Raven. How do you not know it’s her? After all these days suspended in time something inside you MUST know or at least have a clue…..

To that new story I just jotted down the basics of for a later date:
Can’t wait to get to know you! Don’t even have character names yet but one day….one day.
Well- farewell for now my friends. Some of you I’ll work with sooner than others. Just keep eating, breathing, sleeping etc till I get back to you. I haven’t forgotten about you. I swear.
Three more weeks of summer vacation. In some ways I’m looking forward to school starting again but I do love summer with all it’s swimming, popsicles, sprinklers and park days. Great. Now I’m sad that summer is almost over but at least I have my imaginary friends to keep me company through the long, cold winter of Illinois. Seriously, what would I do without you guys?
