Back on the Blog Chain: How Do You Spend Your Summer?

After a late start, Christine came up with a topic for this round of the blog chain:

How do you spend your summer? Catching up on writing projects, taking time off of writing? Getting inspired? Inquiring minds want to know.

Well, I'm definitely not taking a break from writing. I have several projects in the works, but the one I'm focusing on now is a prequel to my upcoming fantasy series. (I've discussed it here before as the Season Lords series, but I'm now leaning toward Season Avatars as the series name.) It's a novella that sets up the countries of Challen and Selath, where the series takes place. With luck, the muse, and lots of writing time, I'll have the first draft done by the end of the month. (Unless, of course, I just jinxed myself.) I'm making progress with Catalyst in the Crucible as well, though I still need to work out some issues. Plus there are several other short stories I want to work on too, though I don't know if I'll meet my original goal of publishing six new stories this year.

As much as I might like to, I don't spend all summer parked in front of my laptop. It seems we have something to do every weekend: birthday parties for my son's friends, weddings, other parties and showers, and even my high school reunion next month. (My husband skipped his.) My husband and I had not just one, but two date nights last month. (We attended a Sting concert and Second City at the Opera.) Last weekend, the three of us drove up to Madison, Wisconsin for a much-needed mini-vacation. We have more trips planned to museums and Tall Ships in Chicago in the next few weeks. No wonder I wound up writing in the car on the way to Madison; how else will I get it all done?

Summer's lease will have all too short a date with everything going on. I hope you enjoy your own summer. And be warned: if there's no topic pre-selected for the next Blog Chain, I'm going to pick my own.