It was a week full of writing, a fun authorly adventure, and finding joy.
For the Labor Day weekend we went to Lake Tahoe with friends. I’d never been there in summer before (shockingly!) and we had a lot of fun. A highlight was rafting along the Truckee river.
We also spent lots of time by the lake and my husband took the girls off to climb high ropes amongst trees one afternoon which they loved.
My novel word count this week was definitely hampered by our long weekend but I still made progress. I’m up to 4,487 total words. I won’t think too hard about how many are left to go but instead, in the words of Anne Lamott, I’ll take it bird by bird.
I went on an excursion with fellow book creators Tim McCanna,
, Laura Zarrin, and Tracy Bishop around Willow Glen in San Jose this week. We dropped off books in Little Free Libraries before stopping by the fabulous children’s bookstore, Hicklebee’s. In an industry where we spend a lot of time sitting alone in our houses trying to write, it’s was fun to get together and spread joy around a neighborhood.I highly recommend getting together with local book friends and finding LFLs to drop your books (or books you would like to donate) into.
Speaking of book friends, I’m excited to be a part of Kids Meet Authors, a collective of amazing authors and illustrators offering FREE monthly webinars to elementary-aged kids. Take a look at our website for more information and sign up for our first webinar on October 4th.
I didn’t finish any books this week! Reading seems to have slowed down since I’ve been writing more and I only manage a few pages before bed. Mind you, I think my social media usage has also increased so I need to curtail that! I just started Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan and I have high hopes that I’ll enjoy it.
I started a new podcast this week and I’m flying through it as each episode is short (and compelling). It’s a time travel thriller called Case 63 starring Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac. You know how I feel about time travel!
When I feel like I don’t want to do something, it’s often anxiety talking. Since watching Inside Out 2 I picture anxiety like the character.
This past week I nearly pulled out of doing a podcast and I tried to find an excuse to not take part. I realized what I was feeling was anxiety and the interview went well. Sometimes you have to let Joy take the controls.
This week on Kidlit Survival Guide I wrote about that back to school feeling and next week in a paid-subscribers-only post I’m delving into writing nonfiction.
That’s all from me this week!
Happy writing and reading,
Christine