Summer Break.

Well, I certainly did not expect to put my blog and online life on such a moratorium, but summertime has found me extremely busy with family commitments – more so than in past years. Kids out of school = chaos … though not the type you want to miss. You can either fight it or throw yourself right in, and I did the latter. It almost felt like my childhood again.

The first book in my new Celestial Blues series was also recently accepted, so I immediately took time away from the computer (my eyeballs were pulsing after pushing to meet that deadline), did some editing for another writer, took care of Real Life things I'd let pile up, and made my first foray of the summer out to the beach. Don't be jealous – I'm back in the sweltering heat now and it was over way too fast, but I'm well rejuvenated so I can't really complain.

I've also been researching and plotting a new book. I'm in the unique-to-me position of having finished a book early, so I've time on my hands. Whenever I'm in the middle of a WiP I'm always dreaming of the fun things I'll do once I'm off deadline – massages and lunches and shopping and reading – but once I've finished? I'm too antsy to do any of those things. Ah, irony.

So there's a story idea that has been hounding me for a couple of years, one I'm afraid to write, and one I'm wondering if I even have the chops to write. Yet now that I have a few weeks to myself (while the editor's away, the writer will play) I'm exploring it. I'm also approaching it in a new way … not that my old way of doing things was broken. But I love to learn and explore, and this was the perfect opportunity to go for some growth while hoping a new approach will keep the process fresh as well.

All that is a long way of saying that this is why this accompanying picture of me at the beach isn't the usual get-my-tan-on photo op. I actually had the time and mental space to look out at the beautiful Pacific and dream. One of the few times "the writer's life" has actually lived up to its billing.

What about all of you? How's your summer? Do anything fantastic that you'd like to share?