Children’s choir starts again tonight, so I guess I’m on my full fall schedule now. I have no idea how many kids I’ll have this year, but I had this age group for music and art camp this summer, and unless a whole bunch of new kids I don’t know show up, I may swing back to having more girls than boys this year. I know of maybe 4 or 5 kids who are very likely to be there, and all but one are girls. I should also keep my twin streak going — I’ve had a set of twins every year for the past four years (though a couple of those years the kids were very intermittent in attending, and last year’s set of twins dropped out early in the year). I’ll probably have to adjust my teaching style because a class of mostly girls works very differently in kindergarten than a class of mostly boys.

This means it’ll be a short workday for me today. I’m revising one book and researching another, using the research as a break between revision stints so I don’t start zoning out. When I reach the point of thinking “whatever” instead of really thinking about how to fix it, I switch over to reading reference books. I’m probably hitting overkill on the research, but I’m building a new world, so better to have too much input than too little. Since I’m working on something else at the moment and not ready to start writing, it’s not as though I’m using research as a procrastination tool. The world I’m working on is taking elements for several parts of history, which means a lot of reading. A couple of the areas are things I’m already interested in and have read a lot about, but then there are some new things that I didn’t know a lot about but that may turn into a serious interest.

And it’s interesting how many parallels I keep finding for the present no matter what part of history I’m studying.

Yes, this is something new. I want to find a new publisher, and to do that, I need to have something new to offer. They aren’t interested in a series that was started by a different publisher. I will still continue on the series I have in progress, but it takes a long time to go through the submission process and get a book published, so I want to get this going, and then I can go back to my other things while I wait. And this is why I can’t devote a whole day to going through my closets right now.

Longtime blog readers may have noticed that I have a bit of an obsession with organization. I’ve come to realize that I’m actually kind of a neat freak, but I’m also lazy and have bad habits, so I’m also a bit of a slob. Plus, I’ve lived in my house for more than 20 years, and before that I had moved every 1-4 years throughout my whole life, so I have no clue how to purge and deep clean a house without moving. I never lived anywhere long enough that this became an issue. I would love to live in a house that’s basically like a hotel room, with no clutter and perfectly clean. I think that’s part of why I love hotels so much. I unpack and put everything away, and I tidy my stuff before I leave for the day, then when I return it’s been cleaned.

I’ve been working on getting my house in order, and it’s been a long-term work in progress. The one bit of organization that’s really stuck was when I got my dresser and my t-shirt collection dealt with last summer, and I did that based on an article about the “KonMari” method. When I found Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Things Up, in the library, I thought I’d take a look.

She definitely goes against some of the conventional wisdom, like saying it’s better to do it all in one day than to try to do it gradually, a little at a time. Then again, doing it gradually hasn’t really stuck for me and the thing I did all at once has. I think the trick is to cut the overall project into chunks that can be done in one day. Otherwise, you may be doomed. There was a time when I’d been watching too much home improvement TV and decided to “Clean Sweep” my office, putting everything in boxes and getting it out of the room, then starting over from there. I was digging through boxes to find stuff for years and the office was soon a mess again. But there is some sense to doing a category of things all at once because it will never stay tidy and organized if you don’t have a place to put everything, but you won’t have a place to put everything without doing a good purge.

I don’t have time right now to stop everything and devote a whole day to cleaning out my closet or book collection, so I’m tentatively planning to tackle the closet when I do the seasonal changeover, probably in November. By then, I should have some urgent projects off my plate. But I can also do some preliminary purging along the way — if there’s something I know I don’t want or need, I can get rid of it now.

She has a few things that are way too hardcore, even for me, like putting your bookcase in your closet. Even if I purged clothes and books to a minimum, I wouldn’t be able to fit my bookcase in my closet. And there are some things that seem like overkill, but make some sense when you think about it. Like, she says she unpacks her purse when she comes home each day. She has a designated spot for each item in her purse, and she puts things like receipts and business cards in her office to deal with, then wipes down and puts away her purse. The next day, she chooses the purse she wants and packs it. I think if you leave the house every day and go to the same place where you need the same things, that would be excessive, especially if you stage everything at night so you can grab and go in the morning — you’d be unpacking your purse just for a few hours. Maybe a Friday-night unpacking would work. But for someone like me, where I leave the house just a few times a week and go different places, it makes some sense. Then the things I carry with me would be intentionally chosen for that outing, and it would eliminate the purse full of old tissues, old receipts, and stale cough drops. Or, she says not to store shampoo or other product bottles in the bath or shower, not even in those shower caddies. Instead, store them in the cabinet, take out the ones you need for each bath or shower, then wipe them down and put them away after the bath/shower. That seems a bit much, but I guess it wouldn’t take much time, and it makes the shower easier to clean without working around those bottles, where mildew and mold tend to build up.

We’ll see if I can actually get and keep things in order this time. I’ve told myself that when I get the house organized and decluttered, I can start getting a monthly cleaning service. That’s enough to get the regular deep cleaning taken care of and since I’m the person who’ll clean for the maid, it would force me to tidy at least once a month. And then, theoretically, I would be more productive. But first, I have some things I need to finish writing.

Back from vacation! I spent a few days in Chicago, and it was a wonderful trip full of pleasant surprises. It was already a treat to begin with because my airfare was free, thanks to a bump I took on a flight last fall, and then I got a great hotel rate through a Hilton sale, with an even better rate from pre-paying for the room. When I arrived at the hotel, the desk clerk called to see if my room was ready, but the number she mentioned was different than the one I’d been given on the online check-in. The clerk looked at her computer and said, “Oh, that’s because we’re upgrading you to a suite.” So, for my great, cheap (relatively) pre-paid rate, I got a suite that was bigger than my first apartment. It had a kitchenette with a full-size refrigerator and microwave (and dishes!), a full-sized living room, and a bedroom that was the size of a normal hotel room. My mom worried that it was so nice I wouldn’t want to leave the room, but I found that it made it feel more like a home and less like a hotel room, so I didn’t have that “I want to cocoon in the hotel room” response. I did spend time relaxing, but I also got out a lot.

While I was waiting for my room to be ready, I walked along the river and had lunch at a riverside cafe, then went to the Sephora on Michigan Ave. and picked up some stuff for a spa night. Then I felt I deserved some hotel time once I got in. The hotel’s heated indoor pool was actually nice and warm, and they had a sauna. There was also a lovely terrace where I sat and read until it got dark.

Thursday was my tall ship day. There’s a tall ship that does cruises on Lake Michigan, and sailing on a tall ship was an item on my bucket list. I got there early, as they were still getting ready, and they asked me to give them about five minutes until they got the ticket office open. I wandered a bit, took some photos for some tourists (I guess I’m still the designated tourist photographer), then came back. They still weren’t ready. When I finally got to buy my ticket, they gave me a discount for being so patient and so eager. The cruise was amazing. They let some of the passengers help raise the sails, so I got to experience that, and once we were under full sail with the engine off, it was so peaceful as we flew across the water. I don’t yet have a sailing ship scene planned for a book, but I think it may happen someday.

I had lunch by the lake, then I met up with a friend and got to tour the American Library Association offices (it’s a tourist attraction for novelists) and spent the rest of the day hanging out with friends and having dinner at a lovely little neighborhood place they know.

Thursday was Art Institute day. I spent most of the day in the museum, just absorbing images and getting inspiration. Then I figured I deserved a rest and spent the afternoon relaxing and reading before I went out to get some pizza for dinner. I had to wait on the pizza, so I wandered the neighborhood and found the fire station they used for the bar in the TV series Early Edition. That night was spa night, using the stuff I’d bought earlier.

All in all, a good vacation. I did two major touristy things, spent time on and by the water, did some exploring, hung out with friends, relaxed a bit, and read three books. I didn’t even come back utterly exhausted. It helped that I came home Saturday and was able to have a normal Sunday relaxing at home, which helped me feel like I was back on schedule. Now I’m ready to dive back into work.

I’ve got the copyeditor lined up for October, so it looks like Enchanted, Inc. book 9 will be coming toward the end of the year, depending on how the cover artist’s schedule is looking.

That also gives me some breathing room because I don’t think I have a month worth of rewriting/revision to do, and that means I’m giving myself this whole week off. I’m doing some research and thinking about other projects, but I’m not trying to do actual writing amid all my trip preparation.

And the vacation countdown has begun. Laundry is finishing, and then I have to decide what to bring. The forecast temperatures look cool to me, but I’ve noticed that temperatures tend to feel cooler here. I don’t know if it’s quite as bad in Chicago as it is in New York, but a 79-degree day in New York feels about like a 95-degree day here. I think I’m going to go with lightweight long sleeves, with a sweater for mornings and evenings. It looks like one day will be rainy, so that will be my museum day, and then it will be lovely for watching it rain in the city while I sit in my room and read.

So, off to pack, and then see you next week!

I’m going on vacation later this week, and the goal is to do nothing work-related (well, aside from the fact that experiences are always fodder for story ideas, and I’ll be doing a lot of reading, which kind of counts as work). For someone with an extremely flexible schedule, I’m terrible about taking vacations. I think I’ve taken maybe five trips that weren’t work-related in some way in the past fifteen years, and several of those were to events, so I was on someone else’s schedule. I’ve taken two pure vacation trips. I’ve tried doing “staycations” a few times, but I always seem to fall into my regular routine instead of really acting like I’m on vacation.

But on this trip, I have ideas of things I want to do, but no set schedule other than my flights. There’s enough to do to keep me busy, but I’m also planning some time to hang out in my hotel and read. I have a massive e-book backlog that I want to make a dent in. Between waiting in the airport, flights, and relaxing time at the hotel, I might get somewhere.

First, though, there’s the pre-trip preparation. I’m kind of obsessive about this, but I find that part oddly fun. I make a big checklist of everything that needs to get done and schedule times to do it. The goal is to be completely done with preparation early on the evening before the trip so I can start relaxing then and get to bed early, and then that morning I can just get up, have breakfast, get dressed, throw the last few things into my bag and go, with no stress, rush, or panic. I also like to have the house clean so coming home isn’t a big stress.

I’m more or less on schedule for this week, but the next couple of days are going to be a flurry of laundry, packing, doublechecking schedules, etc. The vacation begins tomorrow evening when (I hope!) everything will be done and I can sit back and relax.

I should be more or less back to a normal schedule this week — just in time to go on vacation next week, which means I need to work really hard and get a lot done so I can thoroughly appreciate vacation.

Last week was my birthday, and then I got to spend two days waiting on an air conditioning technician for my annual checkup (I was scheduled for Thursday morning, but they were running so behind that after I’d waited all morning, they had to reschedule me for the next day). The week before was music and art camp. All that added up to disrupting my usual schedule.

But I had a really nice weekend, which included a cool, rainy Saturday. In fact, it was a record low high temperature for that date. I was forced to implement the Emergency Cool, Rainy Saturday Protocols, which meant I canceled all plans so I could sit at home with the windows open, listening to it rain as I read and drank tea. You don’t waste a Saturday like that, especially in August.

It’s still cooler than normal and raining off and on, but it’s not quite at the fall-like state of Saturday, a day I will treasure in my heart until maybe October.

Rain is also good for writing, so I’m hoping for some showers this afternoon.

I’m celebrating my birthday today, and it’s one of those big round number birthdays. I had a grand day out planned, but I seem to keep pulling back what I want to do because I really didn’t want to drive across town. So I think I’ll end up seeing a movie at my neighborhood theater (where I’ll get free popcorn), and I may do a little shopping afterward to buy myself some gift to serve as a token to mark the occasion.

I’ve already had a weekend with my parents, a party with friends, and dinner with friends, so this is turning into an ongoing celebration. But then, this is a pretty big milestone day.

I’m going to see Christopher Robin because I figure that’s an apt movie to see when I’ve reached an age at which I can no longer deny that I really do count as a grown-up, even if I don’t feel like it. I’m a very responsible person, so I’m adult in that sense, but my job is making up stories, and it’s hard to really be a “grown up” doing that.

I’m back to having a semi-normal week. I say “semi” because it’s my birthday this week, and it’s a big one, which means celebration. I already had a couple of celebrations this weekend, and I’m giving myself the day off, but then I’m also kind of tired today from being unusually social this weekend (and still recovering from last week), so maybe it should be a four-day weekend. And you can see where this is going.

This is why it’s important to keep momentum going. Once I lose momentum, it’s difficult to get started again. I think today will be a brainstorming day, then on my grand day off/out tomorrow I’ll stew over what I brainstormed, and then when I get back to work, I may have it all planned out. It will also be cooler, so maybe I’ll be able to think better.

My incentive for getting some work done today: It looks like Thursday might count as a rainy day, and it’s been so long that I need to invoke my rainy day policy for a reading/movie day.

I’ve been out all week volunteering at a music and art camp for children, so my mornings have been spent herding kindergarteners around from activity to activity. It was fun, but very tiring. Now I need to get back to work, but I’m not sure my brain will cooperate. I’m being a bit of a slug this morning, and I’m tempted to give myself at least part of the day off today. Really, my birthday is early next week, so this could count as an extended holiday, but I do have stuff that needs to be done.

I haven’t quite finished the book I’m working on. I just have one more chapter to go, but it’s a big one with events I’ve been building to for a very long time, and I want to get it right. I need to think about what will happen, and that will require taking some time when I’m not distracted or falling asleep. This week, if I sat still for very long, I’d soon be drifting off.

Small children really are exhausting. As is being the Responsible Adult. It is nice to go back to not being responsible for anything but myself and some fictional people.

I reached my target word count on the book, but I still have story left, so it may be a bit longer than my original plans. But that’s okay because it means I can cut anything I don’t love in the next draft.

The tricky thing is balancing all the characters. I realized that a secondary character I’d set up had vanished toward the end, so I found a way to include her in the big, climactic scene. My cast has grown to rather epic proportions and making sure everyone has a role to play can be difficult.

I may need a chart to keep track of everything and everyone.

And I’m finishing this book just in time, because my agent will soon be getting back to me on the book she’s been looking at, so I may soon have revisions to do on that one.

And there’s been a call for submissions for a science fiction/fantasy Christmas novella anthology, so maybe that’s what I could do for this year’s holiday story. But I need to write it, first.

So, off to work …