Hey there happy reader!

I’ve just returned from our annual family vacation. This year we chose to go to Vermont, thinking about cool, crisp nights and barely warm days. Wow! Were we wrong!!! It was brutally hot… and did I mention that the house we rented was off-the-grid, had no air conditioning and no WiFi connection? Have you been with your adult children without an internet connection? Let me tell you… there were some very tense moments!

We had to take some very drastic measures… like actually talk to one another, lol! 

Plus, no internet led to epic rounds of Catan and Bananagrams. Plus, these two little guys enjoyed just about everything that was outdoors.

They launched nerf rockets, played soccer, ran barefoot in the grass and slept well at night. What more could this happy Gigi ask for?

And for my husband, being in a place with no light at night was like heaven. He’s an amateur astronomer, and his latest telescope takes amazing digital pictures of galaxies far, far away…

I had the chance to enjoy my entire family sitting around the dinner table, joking with one another and generally just having a good time. But now the break is over, and I’m back to work.

I’m going to be attending a writer’s retreat later this week in Colorado with the women I met in Guatemala earlier this spring.

I can’t wait to see them again and workshop my new novel with this group of talented women. It should be another amazing experience!

We’ll be hiking here at Gem Lake. I can’t wait!

Plus, I’m sitting on some news. It’s big. Explosively so… and all will be revealed very, very soon!

Hey there happy reader!

I’ve been spending some time with a bottle of bubbles and a toddler with endless energy, and it’s been both meditative and educational. Seeing the world through the eyes of a grandchild is special for sure, but the rhythmic motion of dipping the wand into the bottle and blowing bubbles together has given me the chance to slow down and just watch that tiny bit of liquid soap float away on the air.

On a rainy, humid afternoon we sat on the porch of our house for an hour, watching the clouds build and simply blowing bubbles. 

I listened to my grandson’s sweet little voice as he told me about his favorite things (basketball and Bluey.) He was joyful each time a bubble lifted toward the sky. Time slowed down just a bit; I didn’t think about my long list of responsibilities or the errands I needed to run.

I just blew bubbles…

It’s a lesson I’m taking with me into my writing practice. 

Words are like bubbles. Sometimes they float and sometimes they sink (that’s what a good editor is for!) The joy is in the method, the action of creating a story. I know that when I get into the groove of my work, there’s no better feeling… and that’s where I am now with “The Stones.” I’m getting closer to sharing it with you and there’s nothing better than knowing that I have something very special coming your way. As soon as I have some cover art, I’ll post it here first!

I do hope that wherever you are, the sun is shining. 

Here in the northeast, we’ve been in a long rainy spell. I don’t mind it much when I’m this busy writing — I just hope for a beach day every now and then. It doesn’t matter what the weather is… any time you have to yourself is a good time to pick up a book and read!

Hey there happy reader,

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with tasks? So much so that you want to throw a blanket over your head and forget everything for a while, crawl into bed and just read a good book?

That’s how I’m feeling today! 

I have so many errands and small jobs to complete that it almost seems impossible to get it all done. I have to try and remember my favorite life guide and author, Anne Lamott’s best advice – just go “bird by bird.”

This book, with its invaluable life lessons, has saved me on more than one occasion from myself. 

Anne tells the story of her brother, who when having ignored a school assignment where he was to write a research paper, waited until the very last minute to begin. Sensing his son’s panic, their father offered some sage words. “Go bird by bird. One bird at a time.” Simple, but true. We can all do well to remember that we can only do one thing at a time…

Which brings me to my current work-in-progress.

I’m doing my best to hunker down and get my most recent draft in good enough shape to share some of it with you! As you may remember, I wasn’t happy with my first pass at this novel, so I started over. I can report that things are going much better this time around… hopefully I will have an excerpt or two to share over the summer months ahead.

I’m headed to my office now. I’ve reached a tense moment in the narrative, and I want to get back to it before I tackle cleaning my outdoor furniture before Father’s Day!!