Summer Lovin'

By Susan

In two weeks, my girls are officially out of school and summer will begin. I've looked forward to this all year--my first summer as a full-time writer, my first summer staying home with my children. No rushing to get them up and ready for summer camps or day care. This year, it will all be different--just us. Time to sleep in, take mini-vacations, and swim, swim, swim under the hot Texas sun.


Me and my girls, summer of 2011

I was also looking forward to summer break for another reason--I was sure that I'd be finished with my revisions on The Angels' Share, and that Brilliant Agent would be submitting my editorial letter to publishing houses, who--with bated breath--would be waiting for my manuscript to cross their desks. Instead, I'm about halfway through a rewrite that is adding a new character, I'm changing the arc of the protagonist, and I'm sweating--a lot--about the speed and quality of my work.

I remind myself to slow down. I tell myself to be thankful. I advise my inner critic to, well, to shut up. I'm not on a deadline. Brilliant Agent loves my work and is determined to push me to be my very best. I've even joked that I'm finally getting that MFA in Creative Writing--just by working with her! I've learned more about writing a novel in the past six months than I ever dreamed I could learn--simply by landing the right agent. So how can I complain?

And so, on this eve of summer, instead of stressing about all that I have to do with The Angels' Share, I'm choosing to simply relax. Take it one day at a time--the writing, editing, revisions, and themes? They will all come. The summer of 2012--with my firstborn on the cusp of being a teenager, and my baby girl now in double digits? Well. That kind of summer only happens once. And I'm determined to not miss a minute of it.