In the Background

Happy summer, everyone. It’s been a while since I sent a note, mostly because summer is a crazy time in our house--I have both kids with me all summer long, no camp, which leaves little time to focus my thoughts enough to write coherently. Most summers I’m wracked with frustration at having to put my writing on the back burner. Fortunately, this summer I have a different focus--pursuing new outlets to promoteEach Vagabond by Name, and working on a big freelance editing job. I do these things in bits and pieces as the summer days go along.Meanwhile, in the background, ideas are brewing for my novel-in-progress. Once school begins, I’ll be ready to attack my first draft and start the violent work that will lead to a very different second draft. Plotlines are changing, minor characters are emerging as major, the focus is shifting. This might be my favorite part of the novel-writing process: finally glimpsing the real story. I’ll cut a lot of pages as I zero in on what this is supposed to be, and I’ll have to do a lot more writing of new scenes and chapters. But all of that gets easier once the shape becomes clearer.It’s not fully clear yet. But it’s coming. This week, I’ve been in Connellsville while Andrew’s on a work trip to California, and I relish each moment of quiet I can steal here. At home in New Jersey, there’s simply no opportunity to claim the mental space I need to think about my characters and figure out what they want. That kind of contemplation just can’t be done while my kids are around. (I’m eager for school to start.) But here, I’ve been able to take a few long walks around the neighborhood and on the Yough River Trail, taking in the stillness that seems more charged with ideas here than anywhere else. Many weeks of summer remain, but I’ll file all of this away for September--and turn to it, at last, when both kids are back in school and I can sit at my desk in an empty house.In the meantime…In the meantime, as summer ticks along, I’ll share some of the fun things going on withEach Vagabond by Name:Thesays ofVagabond, "Ultimately, we’re left with a startling rediscovery of what love, loyalty, and redemption can look like for characters who appear to have little perspective of the future beyond their ordinary lives."xoJaneincludedVagabondon a list of "7 Serious Summer-Avoidant Anti-Beach Reads"--"These summer must-reads come with substance."BustleincludedVagabondon a list of "15 Great Appalachian Novels that Reflect the Unique Culture of the Region." From the intro: "These are books with dirty fingernails, gravel roads, injury, illness, and death, and they are lovely."Readers Unboundfound similarities between Vagabond and the classic Icelandic sagas, linking them as clan narrativesAnd finally…Thanks to all of you who have left a review ofVagabondonAmazon. If you haven’t yet, I’d be so grateful if you'd click on over and share your thoughts. Reviews are hugely important to a book’s success. The more reviews a book has, the more likely it is to be recommended to readers by Amazon, and the more willing readers are to take a chance on a new writer.If you’re in a book club, or know someone who is, considerEach Vagabond by Namefor one of your summer or fall selections. I’d love to join your discussion in person or via Skype!