A busy summer
So, summer I have a very easy schedule, right? No college students or high school music magnet students, no operas or other big performances, just teaching 10 or so weekly private students, my regular church gig, lots of weddings...
This summer has seemed pretty busy so far, but it's been mostly a good sort of busy. The not-so-good is that my mother fell and broke her ankle and I spent some time in North Carolina helping her out, but other than that, I can't complain.
Stephan and I had a wonderful trip to Costa Rica. I've written a partial trip report which I'll try to post here in the not-too-distant future, but suffice to say for now that we're already planning to get back there in 5-7 years. I'm not the sort of person who can vacation in the same place every year or even every couple of years. I like seeing new and different things. But 5 years seems about right to revisit a place you really love--it's enough time that things will seem somewhat new.
We stayed at different places around the Central and Pacific areas, but the highlight for me was the Arenal Observatory Lodge, overlooking the active side of the Arenal volcano. It woke us up rumbling at night and we could see the glowing firework show right from our room! If this wasn't enough, we also saw and heard more birds than I could possibly identify, howler monkeys, lush foliage, and had lovely walks and soaks in hot springs. Really, what more could a person want?
I'm keeping busy with critiques for TNEO, the Odyssey alumni workshop coming up in mid-July. I'm playing with the novel, doing lots of notes to myself and thinking, but haven't really had too many of those days where I had the luxury of time to sit for several uninterrupted hours and just write. I suspect I've passed 30,000 words at some point but I haven't compiled the draft in Scrivener for a while. While in Costa Rica, I dreamed up a new minor antagonist and wrote a few lines of dialogue for him. Why is it so much fun writing bad guys?
I got a very nice personal rejection for my short story, "The Golden Larynx," that got Honorable Mention from Writers of the Future. The editor had kept it for further consideration and thought the concept was "very creepy," but ultimately didn't buy. It is now off to another market. I also finally did some tinkering with my short story "In Which Marper Visits a Witch" and sent it out.
I've made plans to attend World Fantasy in Columbus this October and am excited about that. I usually don't get to go because it's just not a good time of year to get away with my college teaching schedule, but since Columbus is so relatively close, I'm going to finagle a way to get free on Friday and drive over.
I'm going to be back in North Carolina for a few days helping my parents move into a cottage at a nursing home facility, then back to work finishing up critiques before TNEO. I hope to get some kayaking in and maybe even some camping, but there's not a lot of time to work with.
Then before I know it, the school year will start again and any illusion of free time will be gone!
This summer has seemed pretty busy so far, but it's been mostly a good sort of busy. The not-so-good is that my mother fell and broke her ankle and I spent some time in North Carolina helping her out, but other than that, I can't complain.
Stephan and I had a wonderful trip to Costa Rica. I've written a partial trip report which I'll try to post here in the not-too-distant future, but suffice to say for now that we're already planning to get back there in 5-7 years. I'm not the sort of person who can vacation in the same place every year or even every couple of years. I like seeing new and different things. But 5 years seems about right to revisit a place you really love--it's enough time that things will seem somewhat new.
We stayed at different places around the Central and Pacific areas, but the highlight for me was the Arenal Observatory Lodge, overlooking the active side of the Arenal volcano. It woke us up rumbling at night and we could see the glowing firework show right from our room! If this wasn't enough, we also saw and heard more birds than I could possibly identify, howler monkeys, lush foliage, and had lovely walks and soaks in hot springs. Really, what more could a person want?
I'm keeping busy with critiques for TNEO, the Odyssey alumni workshop coming up in mid-July. I'm playing with the novel, doing lots of notes to myself and thinking, but haven't really had too many of those days where I had the luxury of time to sit for several uninterrupted hours and just write. I suspect I've passed 30,000 words at some point but I haven't compiled the draft in Scrivener for a while. While in Costa Rica, I dreamed up a new minor antagonist and wrote a few lines of dialogue for him. Why is it so much fun writing bad guys?
I got a very nice personal rejection for my short story, "The Golden Larynx," that got Honorable Mention from Writers of the Future. The editor had kept it for further consideration and thought the concept was "very creepy," but ultimately didn't buy. It is now off to another market. I also finally did some tinkering with my short story "In Which Marper Visits a Witch" and sent it out.
I've made plans to attend World Fantasy in Columbus this October and am excited about that. I usually don't get to go because it's just not a good time of year to get away with my college teaching schedule, but since Columbus is so relatively close, I'm going to finagle a way to get free on Friday and drive over.
I'm going to be back in North Carolina for a few days helping my parents move into a cottage at a nursing home facility, then back to work finishing up critiques before TNEO. I hope to get some kayaking in and maybe even some camping, but there's not a lot of time to work with.
Then before I know it, the school year will start again and any illusion of free time will be gone!