Recess is over…time to come back inside

The change in seasons is here and it’s a time of year that I enjoy – the weather is changing, it’s time to put away the garden and summer items and there will be more cozy days inside as we prepare for the upcoming holidays.  It’s the same feeling I get when I’m nearing the end of a long project and getting ready to start something new.  I get to clean up my desk and my notes and start working on new character and story ideas on brand new blank binders and paper. 

During the past two months while I worked to complete my latest projects, my break from social media took a longer stretch than I anticipated but sometimes, a break is what we need to re-energize and focus on the tasks at hand.  During my break, I continued to work on my books, took part in a class to learn something new about marketing and I even went on a much-needed vacation with the family. 

Disney California Adventure Park

First, the much-needed vacation – did we go someplace to relax by the beach while we read our most favorite books?  No, we went on a road trip down through California.  Yes, I did say “road trip”…it’s just something we like to do as a family.  This particular trip we’ve taken before but it was quite awhile ago so we were all excited to do it again.  We visited places such as Crescent City, The Redwoods, San Francisco and Alcatraz, Monterey Bay, Carmel-by-the-Sea and Marina del Rey before moving over to Anaheim where we hit Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Knott’s Berry Farm and Universal Studios.  The coastal cities were beautiful, as was the weather, for the most part.  The lines at the parks weren’t too outrageous but the weather sure took a turn and gave us 100-degree weather three days in a row while we roamed the parks and zeroed in on rides that took us inside an air-conditioned building or man-made mountain.  From there we drove down to San Diego and visited the zoo.  Even with the warm day we had (although much cooler than to the north), the animals surprised us and were all pretty active and available for terrific photo opts.  The Koalas were another matter…they were all asleep, as they are pretty much most of the day, but they’re so cute even as they nap that I can’t be upset with them.

I also took part in a training course before I left for vacation and while the class focused on many sorts of business models, it was a great resource for writers.  The focus of the class was on how to be passionate, purposeful and prosperous, with tips on building a better foundation for your business, cultivating relationships, launching explosively and selling a product others will appreciate.  I haven’t had much time to review  or use what I’ve learned from that class, since I only returned from vacation last week and I’ve been pretty busy since then, but I look forward to using some of the tips I’ve learned as I move further along with my writing career.

And finally, I’ve been working on my books to complete them for publishing. 

So, where am I with the writing projects? 

The third book in the Jorja Matthews’ mystery series, Ties That Bind, has been shipped off to the editor for review.  This book took a bit longer to complete and with a new editor who is very busy, I also had to wait until she was available to review my book, so the publishing date will be later in the year than I had originally planned.  But I’ve also completed a second short story and the expectation is to have that story published by the end of October.  I will be sending out a notice soon when that book is finally available.    

A season has ended and a new one is about to begin, both outside and at my writing desk.  The creative-side of things is pretty much complete with both the novel and the short story and from here we’re going to be deep into the technical side of editing, formatting, publishing and marketing.  So what will I do now that these projects are close to completion?  I’ll be looking forward to a new season of writing…not only with the fourth book in the series, but also a whole new project, to include a new book, a new idea, new characters and even a stab at a completely different genre. 

It’s a new season, so it’s the perfect time to try something new!