Thankful Thursday – Summer 2012 edition

Tags

family, garden, writing

This has been the busiest summer I can remember, a whirligig of days and hours that’s had me racing to keep up. But now the whirligig is spinning to a close, and I see that despite all the commotion, it’s been a beautiful season.

Here are some writing things I’m thankful for:

The page proofs for Chantress are done! (I always lose my mind over page proofs, and it’s good to have it back.)

The cover is beautiful and I’ll get to reveal it soon!

But as I sit here tonight, watching the summer night draw in, it’s the non-writing things from this summer that have the closest hold on my heart:

A joyful family wedding with music that still sings in my head

Seeing my whole family for the first time in over 2 1/2 years

Sweetpea learning to swim

Quiet nights stargazing in the backyard, marveling at the Milky Way

The hedgehog who snuffles through our garden on occasional evening wanderings

Dear friends who came thousands of miles to see us

The roses that have bloomed all summer long

What stands out about your summer? I’d love to hear.

Five Things on a Friday

Tags

garden, publishing, writing, writing life, writing process

1. Plenty of kerfuffle this week, but fewer icy patches. Fingers crossed, but things are looking less dire. Now I just need to find the energy to make good use of what writing time I’ve got.

2. I went ahead last night and signed up for the NESCBWI Conference in April. This will be the first conference I’ve been to since P was born. Despite David’s encouragement, I’m still not sure whether I’m ready to stay overnight, but oh, how I’m looking forward to it all — seeing good friends that I haven’t seen in years, making new friends that I don’t yet know, and above all to spending a weekend immersed in WRITING.

3. After weeks of being buried in snow, my rosemary bush has emerged with its fragrant needles intact. I just ducked out for a snippet — heavenly! I’m used to thinking of rosemary as a frail flower in these northern climes, but this particular plant seems to be tough as old winter boots.

4. You’d think with all shake-ups in publishing right now I’d be fairly shock-proof, but the news this week that Harper was closing Bowen Press stunned me. What a loss! And before they’d even had a chance to launch their first list…

5. On a happier note, the fabulous Sue Williams, who writes wonderfully about writing (and much else), has a great blog entry about messy drafts this week. If you’re feeling discouraged about your own drafts (and even if you aren’t), I recommend reading it!