New Month, Plus Housekeeping

It's the first weekend of August as I write this, which means one of my favorite seasons is coming before too long. At least I hope it is, and this hideous heat goes away soon. Haha! The housekeeping in the title above is both real and metaphorical; I wanted to send out a thank you to the people who popped into my virtual birthday party last week. Cynthia is the party gift winner, so she's got some new reading material, and soon some other goodies will land in her hands as well.

I'm also doing some actual clean-up here in my office, a little at a time. I have entirely too many projects on-going...the photo scanning, purging of files, plus writing stuff. That doesn't include the ongoing basement organization project, that includes more purging of stuff, because I'm trying to focus more on what's directly in front of me, and the basement can wait a little longer, especially since I did do a massive purge/organize project down there a few years ago. I'll work it out, but it's going to take some time, and I'm going to be spending less time on things that aren't writing this month. At least, that's the game plan right now. It's overdue. There are so many photos to scan, that was always going to take a long time. As for the file purge, I'd like to be the sort of person who would just toss it all, but I know myself better than that; I'd throw out something we'd need in a few weeks and then punish myself for months, so I'm being more thoughtful about what do we actually still need to keep, and what can really go in the trash or shredder now instead of in a couple more years.

Rather than worrying about the non-writing projects, I want to get back on track with the writing projects. I have those short contemporary romances just sitting here, waiting to be polished and released, plus the shapeshifters that need editing and eventually to be released as well. Writing makes me happy, and I need more happy right now. We could probably all use more happy.

So, before I get back to the last couple weekend chores and then writing, I have a snippet for you this week from Light the Way Home.

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            Lucie had been on Mac’s Light Island for almost three weeks, but the view from the back door of her temporary home still took her breath away. Right now, she realized she’d been standing there staring, slack-jawed, at the sunlight glinting off the grey-blue ocean waves for a good five minutes. Shaking her head, she pulled the door shut and stepped down onto the sidewalk, feeling in her purse for her car keys.

            She closed her fingers on the fob as a giggle reached her ears. She turned to the white picket fence that bordered the property next door as a big multi-colored ball sailed over it, toward her. “Oh!” She caught it before it hit her in the face, then started across the grass, balancing the ball on her hand.

            Another giggle sounded as she neared the fence, so she adjusted her direction a tiny bit and came to a stop looking directly down onto a tousled blond head.

            “I think you lost something,” she said.

            The little boy’s face tipped up quickly, his blue eyes wide with surprise–as if he couldn’t believe she’d found him already.

            Lucie grinned and held the ball higher.

            He smiled as he got to his feet, brushing off his jeans-clad knees.

            From seeing him playing outside several times already, she’d guessed he might be four, but now at close range, she scaled that back to three.

            “Hi, I’m Hayden,” he said, holding out his right hand.

            It was her turn to be surprised. She shook his hand, bemused. “Hi, Hayden, I’m Lucie.” Not too many three-year-olds had such good manners. Aside from the ball toss at her face, that is. “Nice to meet you.”

            He glanced up at his ball. “Me an’ my dad are your neighbors.”

            “I see that.” She noted he hadn’t mentioned his mom. “Who were you playing with?” She gave the ball a little bounce.

            “Maybe you wanna play with me.” Guileless blue eyes locked on her face.

            Ah. She squelched the pang in her chest. “I wish I could, but I’m on my way to town. Maybe we can play another time?” she added when his grin vanished.

            “Like this afternoon?”

            “Hayden!”

            The deep voice got her attention–and the boy’s–just before a tall, sandy-haired man rounded the back corner of the next-door house.

            Lucie’s mouth went dry. Wowza!

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Now I need to wash some dishes and throw supper together, so I can write. while I'm working toward doing something that makes me happy, I have to ask: what makes you happy that you don't do enough of? Reading? A craft? Spending time with family or friends? I'd love to hear about it.

Until next week, happy reading!