Taking a Mental Break

Still working on the next Northwest Suburbs book, and still playing around with title options. I'm hung up on the Andy Grammer song, Good to Be Alive. It's a good fit for my characters, but wondering if it's "romancey" enough. A firefighter and an active shooting survivor. They've both challenged death and won... Nearly done with the second draft, in spite of numerous "real life" distractions.

One of which was my Dear Husband, who figured I needed a break from my already crazy day job (it's not supposed to be crazy for another month, but that's another story...). We went to see "Spring Awakening," a musical with the soundtrack written by Duncan Sheik. How many of you remember the song Barely Breathing? Well, DH doesn't normally go for musicals or plays, but he humors me about once a year, and he really liked this one. Mostly for the music, even though he has no idea who Duncan Sheik is and purportedly doesn't know the song Barely Breathing. It was a nice break, and wouldn't you know it? We went as part of an overnight package, booked it last minute, and then One Young Son calls to tell me he's coming home for the weekend.

One Young Son is an educator and a coach. The good news is he was coaching for most of the time we were gone, so I didn't feel like a completely absentee mom. We got to visit some while he was in residence, and the coaching brings him home often enough that I don't feel like I missed a rare chance to visit with him (although those chances are more rare - darn kids growing up and having their own lives!).

I didn't get a lot of writing done over the weekend, although I'm rarely not thinking about where I am in the story and what I'm forgetting or what I don't need to/need to show. Notes were taken as reminders, and I'm back on track.

If you're out and about in Illinois on Saturday - I'm doing a signing with the Elgin Literary Festival at the Hemmens Auditorium in Elgin from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. featuring RISING MIST (although I'll have copies of my older books as well). Stop in and say hello!