Back to normal?

I started back to the day job last week after six weeks recuperating. During my time off, I developed some new habits (read "better" habits), but it is interesting to see how much the day job affects my behavior. I plan to maintain those new habits as much as I can. I have also re-established some of the old habits, one of which is reading on the train ride into the Big City.

So what did I do with my time off? I finished Epitaph and sent it off to the publisher who'd requested the full MS to review. I also interviewed people for characterizations and information I want to include in the next book. It was nice to have "all the time in the world" to write, but with all that time, I also found a lot more diversions. So one of the old habits that I'm happy to get back into is focused writing time. Knowing I have to finish a project motivates me to concentrate during my allotted time and budget certain times of the day for other distractions (like, say, work?).

As I retrain my brain to return to a set schedule, I've started work on the second in the Epitaph Series. Epitaph is a ghost story, and the second will also contain a decidedly supernatural element. Thanks to my experiences while I've been laid up, I have a strong starting point, with fun characters. I know what supernatural element I'm including (and the hint for today is "inosculation"). The immediate goal is how to tie all this together into a compelling story. There is a strong suspense element in Epitaph along with the inevitable romance, and I 'm working on finding more suspense in the next book. I've got a five thousand word start, but I'm still in the discovery phase. Starting a new story is always exciting! This one hearkens back to "You've Got Mail" or "Pillow Talk" (those are old movies in case you aren't familiar), but not as "fluffy."

And speaking of exciting, I'll be attending Writer's Police Academy in Green Bay, which should provide lots of fodder for the third book in the Epitaph series with a policeman as a hero, and quite possibly help with this current book once my plot starts to gel.

What do you do when you have time off?