Back to the Grind...

Forgive me if I've been a little absent the last week or so. I've been enjoying my last days of sleeping in and getting things done before school starts on Monday. For those of you that don't know, I teach German (and sometimes French) at a high school in the Chicago suburbs. I'm feeling a little like Phineas and Ferb and trying to cram in as many things as I can before the summer ends. As always, I feel like I could have done more this summer, but in all reality, I did accomplish quite a lot even if it doesn't feel like it.

Here's my summer in a nutshell:

I read 6 books for fun.

I read and edited an additional 4 books. (One being my own, the others being Sleepers by Megg Jensen, Loramendi's Story by Angela Carlie, and Weaving Destiny by G.P. Ching)

I wrote about 8500 words for the second book in the Into the Shadows Trilogy.

Organized a new set of book covers for the Into the Shadows Trilogy.

Had my first paid speaking gig with Megg Jensen.

I had the best Harry Potter birthday EVER, complete with a new Gryffindor hoodie.

I got into Pottermore (still waiting for the final owl).

I had major surgery on my foot, which is slowly getting back to normal.

I spent a lot of time with my husband and daughter, as well as family and friends, which was great. 

I was sad we didn't get to travel anywhere, due to the foot, but I was able to use my time off to plan two vacations for the next year...The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Disney on Halloween weekend and Italy next June.

I also decided that I would like to add Spanish teacher to my job description, so I am practicing Spanish daily.

So what does my life look like after Monday? Busy as usual, but I seem to work well under those conditions. My husband heads back to law school on Monday as well, and my Spanish classes (I'm taking two) start up. Even though I thought I'd get more time to spend on writing related things this summer, I've also found a 4-year-old demands way more attention than I anticipated, and I'm looking forward to having my quiet lunch hour every day at school where I can work undisturbed.

My first plan of action is to get my next book, The Green, finished for you. It needs about 3-4 rounds of edits and then a round of proofreading. I hope to have that book for you sometime this fall, hopefully October or November. It's a book I really wanted to spend some uninterrupted time with, and I'll have that time soon. (Lunch hours, remember!)

Once that's squared away, I will have out all the books I have that are already written and I'll turn my focus to completing the Into the Shadows Trilogy. I would like to have the second book ready for you sometime this winter. I had thought I would get a draft done over summer and have it out this fall, but again, the 4-year-old. So I'll be excited when I can really focus on the book and get back to writing. I hope to finish out the trilogy sometime in 2012. I feel like I have a really good start on it, which will help when I can pick it up again.

I know readers were interested in a possible sequel for Bloody Little Secrets. It's definitely not out of the picture, but I feel I need to complete the ITS trilogy first. So hold tight. I'm hoping there will be some exciting thing coming for BLS in the future.

I hope you all had a great summer! I'm always sorry when it ends, but fall is my favorite time of year and this year I feel like I have a ton to look forward to!