Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Where Did I Go?

Nowhere, really. But I had my first real time off all year and actually accomplished (most) of what I wished to accomplish.

Quick recap, expounding in posts over the next few days.

Wednesday: A funeral. A somber way to start the week, but the looking back and connecting was good. Plus, I went with my oldest son Christopher, so we spent the day hanging out. He introduced me to the Brewed Awakenings in Morris, which has awesome coffee (dark roast and darker roast), and we had lunch at the Morris in Aurelios, which my second oldest son Joshua manages. I got a bit of novel-writing done later in the day. So it was, overall, a good day.

Thursday: Spent the entire day working on Before the Blood. This is where social media fell off for me, and I let it fall. My birthday present to myself was extended uninterrupted time working on this prequel to the BryonySeries, so I went for extended AND uninterrupted. It was a great day.

Friday: Hung out with a friend for a couple hours in the morning who's tried (unsuccessfully) for a year to hang out, one of those necessary things when one wants to have and keep friends. Then it was back to the novel until dinner: a gourmet feast prepared by another son Timothy and his girlfriend Kristyn (more of this - with photos - in another post).

Saturday: My actual birthday and a total family day. It was also the first day my body adjusted to the whole "Hey, let's sleep in!" Joshua's third child Riley Marie shares my birthday and my middle name, so we celebrated her first birthday with siblings, offspring, and cousins picnic-style at a Morris park (more on this in a later post, with photos). On the way in, I bought a darker roast from Brewed Awakenings, and on the way out, Christopher told me to stop in at Verizon (next door), where he works as tech supports so he could buy me another. I also visited Frances at Gypsy Soul and Hope at her current Morris residence, so I decided to take photos with all my cats as a fun birthday twist (more on this in a later post, with photos). Later that night, back to the novel!

Sunday: We overslept for church, so I worked on the novel in the morning, worked a bit in the afternoon (email is out of control), ran a couple of errands, and got to bed early, for I had to be up early for...

Monday: Art camp! Dottie's Art Studio in Plainfield invited me to read from my books at all three age groups of her art camps while the kids and teens drew what I read. Then they shared what they drew and why. Then I gave the books away. For me as an author, it was an extremely gratifying twist to ordinary "reading" events, and it helped raise some money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties. (It was a paying gig, but I defer all payments to BBBS). More of this later (with tons of photos).

Quick mention about my "writing retreat;" I spent less time writing than I anticipated, but write the amount I wanted to write. How's that for a plot twist?

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