Back to School (aka the most bittersweet day of the year)

Hi friends! It’s been a while. First, a little housekeeping:

It feels pretty self-serving to direct you to my Facebook page, but since you’re here to see what’s going on in my world, I guess it’s not too much of a stretch to think you might be interested to know I post more frequently (but hopefully not enough to be annoying 😉 on my author Facebook page. If you haven’t stopped by there, feel free–find it here.  You can also find me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter, if you’re so inclined. 

What’s going on with me:

My babies went back to school today!

As expected, I feel both relief and sorrow in equal measures. I loooove summer and really enjoyed the freedom of this summer–not having to get up and get going any any certain time, letting the kids stay up late, loose schedules, etc. But there was also the bickering. And the “I’m bored”s. So going back to school is a relief because my kids (especially my 7 year old Kate who LOVES to know the EXACT plan for the day) will have a schedule for their days and I will have time on my own. . . but I really will miss them. And my baby Sela (just turned 5 in July) is in kindergarten now, sniff sniff. I could go on and on about this, but suffice it to say, I’m a little heartbroken. 

However, my time opens up so much now–from 8 until 2:45 I am on my own, which feels like a ridiculously long amount of time, though I fear I could waste a bunch of that time if I’m not careful. I had to be so careful with my four hours a day of preschool last year, and I know i need to be on my guard to not think, “Oh, I have pleeeeenty of time for writing. I can do that later”. . . and find myself at 2:45 picking the kids up with nothing to show for it. I want to make the most of my time and do the things I need/want to do, so that when I pick the kids up, I’m not still thinking of all the things I didn’t do. I feel like that happened a lot last year and I was always operating with a tiny bit of frustration in the afternoons because my writing/alone time for the day was over and I left things unfinished. Sending *both* my kiddos off to big school makes me more than ever think I don’t want to waste time with them feeling frustrated by things I need to do. As everyone says, kids won’t notice a dirty floor or unfolded laundry (or an unfinished chapter), but they will notice a totally distracted mama. 

Speaking of writing:

Hurricane Season is mostly wrapped up and edited. Soon, I will receive page proofs–essentially the book all laid out nice and pretty for one more read-through before it goes into production. It’s crazy to think I’ll be doing this whole shebang again next April! (April 3, 2018! And shameless plug, you can preorder it anywhere you buy books! Here’s the link to Amazon.)

After I get over the shock of this quiet house and my brain settles down, I will be hitting book 3 hard! I have a very rough draft of it already written, but it needs a lot of work. I’m excited about it but also slightly terrified. There’s this feeling of, “I know I’ve done this before (twice now) but what if I just can’t make it happen again?!” But I trust that I can. 

Events coming up:

I am meeting with various book clubs this fall–some in person, some over Skype–to discuss The Hideaway. I’ll also be in Greenville, SC, on August 28 at M. Judson Booksellers. I’m part of their event called Page Pairings, which pairs books with wine–not sure how they do that, but I’m all for it! I know of one author who’s going to be there, Joy Callaway, and I’m so excited to finally meet her in person. 

I’ll also be in Baton Rouge, LA, October 28 for the Louisiana Book Festival. There are a ton of awesome authors coming, so if you’re anywhere near Baton Rouge, come check it out. 

What I’m reading:

First Frost is the sequel to Sarah Addison Allen’s first novel, Garden Spells. If you’ve never read anything in the magical realism genre, this is it. It’s not super magical, a la Harry Potter, but it’s our normal, everyday world with small touches of magic/mystery thrown in. I love it. And I’m loving this book. It’s delicious. 

On my list to read next (ish):

Ann Kidd Taylor is the daughter of Sue Monk Kidd, also known as the author of one of my very favorite books, The Secret Life of Bees, which was the book that made me think, “Maybe I want to try my hand at this fiction writing thing.” I admit I checked the book out just because of who her mom is, but the story is really intriguing and I’m hearing good things about it. 

This is another WWII novel, but different in that it’s not set in Europe. A woman learns her Jewish father was a sergeant in charge of a platoon of black soldiers in 1940s Alabama. 

That’s about it from me. I’m going to keep myself busy for the next hour before I run out the door and dash down the street to meet my kiddos at school pick-up. Never have I wanted 3:00 to get here more than today! After today, I probably won’t feel as out of sorts (and that fresh new Word document will start calling my name) but today I can’t wait to see their faces!

Good luck with school if that’s your thing. If not, enjoy the rest of your summer!

Lauren