I’ve been away for a while so I’d love to catch up a little. How are you? What’s happening in your world these days?

I’m thrilled to say that after a month in Winnett, Montana, I finished the new book and have sent it on to my agent. He will be the first to read any part of it, so there’s always the butterflies in the stomach, the fear of being crushed, but also the excitement that he’ll take something important to me and show me ways to make it better.

A little about my trip… at the end of March, I flew to Missoula, Montana, where my brother lives, stayed over night at his place and caught up over wine and risotto. The next morning, we made the 6-hour drive to Winnett, a town of 181 people in Central Montana where my father, uncles, and grandparents used to live, and where I’ve very-fictionally set my book.

My hope was that being in this small town would awaken all my senses and emotions during my final edits and ignite a physicality that seemed to be absent from my book. And, oh man, did it ever! I walked through and around town several times a day, looking, listening, smelling, touching.  The trip was envigorating, lonely, claustrophobic, inspiring.

If you’re my friend on FaceBook, you can see a whole lot of pictures of this trip, from my family cemetery to the mid-April snow to the newborn calf someone drove around in his truck to keep it from freezing. I will be sharing more about the trip and the book over the next few months, but I don’t want to make this post too long, so I’ll stop here for now.

 *

In other news, I am so, so happy to report that after a long, nerve-wracking wait, my 17-year-old has now heard back from all of the colleges he’s applied to, and he’s made a decision about where he’ll attend in the fall. His choice: M.I.T.

I am full of joy, relief, and gratitude that he’s able to go somewhere that is such a profoundly good fit for him. M.I.T., by the way, sends their good news in a tube rather than an envelope, and then they encourage the students to hack the tube. My son made his into a working stylophone.

 *

Some thank you’s for reviews and links: The Never Dusty Bookshelf, Fru Elde – En dag i mitt liv, Convertiv, Jocosa’s Bookshelf, Bethany Duvall, Crystal Clear As Mud, Well Read Westhampton, De Woordenregen, Laila’s Leseblogg, the Wesleyan University Community Blog, and something that made me cry at Juliet DeWal’s In Spite of All the Damage. Also, thank you to Emily Rapp for writing the beautiful non-fiction book, The Still Point of the Turning World, which I reviewed here at Great New Books.

Beautiful day so I’m going to get outside and walk!

Tell me what it would be like if you spent some significant time in the setting of your current work-in-progress.

Because that’s what my plan is. I’m headed here to do the final edits on my book. Population: 181. That’s the sign to the hotel where I’ll be staying, and they do not take credit cards, I just discovered, but said they could give me a room with a table in it if I paid for the deluxe suite. Oh, yes, I will splurge for a table!

LitPark is on hiatus until the book is done, and then I’ll have so, so much to share! Be well, everyone!

Oh wait! Can’t leave without saying some thank you’s: Just Jenny, Feeding the Brain and the Body, howaboutabook, Brenda’s Blog, Med Bok og Palett, and to everyone who has ever written an Amazon review for my book because it’s a generous thing to do. Okay, see you on the other side of this adventure!

What are some of your favorite books of all time? And what is it about those books that you love?

For me, my absolute favorites include Albert Camus’ The Plague, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, William Maxwell’s They Came Like Swallows, James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain ( I couldn’t find the right size cover for that one so picked another I love), Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, and yes, A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh.

I love these books for big and small reasons–for the dark journey or circumstances that brings the hero’s heart into conflict with itself, for the glimpses of light and dark in the world, for the experience of fully inhabiting both delicate and hardened minds, and for the poetry of individual sentences. (Okay, there’s nothing really so dark about Winnie the Pooh, but it’s some of the most amazing writing I know.)

Besides my all-time favorites, I also have a voracious appetite for gothic stories with Byronic characters facing big moral dilemmas: Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Dracula, and pretty much every Shirley Jackson story. Which leads me to the book I’m working on right now. My first novel was the one I needed to write. This time, I’m trying to write the novel I’ve always wanted to read.

*

A quick interlude… here are my kids (on keys and guitar) and their two best friends playing jazz over the weekend. It was such a great show, and it’s such a great friendship to watch.

I’m grateful to all who blogged about my book this past month: Girlfriends Book Club, Cure for Crankiness, Cure, part 2, A Design So Vast, Jocosa’s Bookshelf,Daisy’s Book Journal, Storybook Careers, and my books, my life.

Okay, enough from me. Let’s hear about some of your all-time favorites!

Have you been able to use your winter vacation to rest ? If so, tell me what you did to recharge your battery. And if you find holidays more stressful than relaxing, tell me how you plan to recover so you can go strong into the new year.

Mr. H, the boys and I spent a week with family in Dolores, Colorado, a town of 800 people and one paved road. It was great to be together with no distractions, no lessons or activities competing for their time. There were games (Magic Cards, Ankh-Morpork, Fluxx, Munchkin), long walks in the snow, a day skiing at Telluride, and homecooked meals (everything from posole to spinach saag and dahl, to roast beef and Yorkshire pudding).

It felt great to recharge! I’m looking forward to carrying a renewed sense of energy into the new year. I plan on eating healthier foods (but without obsessing over calories or portions) and continuing my daily exercising (but making it more cardio-focused). Basically tweaking things that are already habits to make sure my time is better spent and I’m enjoying each day. And I’m going to finish the new book in 2013. I promise I’ll talk about it in more detail soon, but I can say I’m fully engaged in the writing and editing, and I’m having so much fun this time around!

*

Some thank you’s: My Novel Thoughts, Bethany Duvall, Jessica Vealitzek, Writer’s Digest, Cure for Crankiness, med bok og palett, BookMovement, Fingers and Prose.

Oh, I published an essay about book clubs at both BookReporter and ReadingGroupGuides.com. Enjoy! And then come back here and hang out a little while!

Tell me about your editing process, and where are you in your current project?

In May, I completed what I called a first draft of my new book—that initial dump of all of my ideas that resembled the shape and length of a novel.

Since then, I’ve been structuring, cutting, moving, shaping, developing themes and emotional layers, adding and subtracting characters, simplifying some things and complicating others, panning in, panning out, balancing the length and pace of the chapters. All the while, I’m reading, reading, reading to train my ear, to keep the bar high: Camus, Baldwin, Steinbeck, Brontë, Gaiman, Stoker, Irving, Wharton, Dickens, McCullers. I’m nearly done with this second draft, and I like what I see.

Though I’m close to my next milestone, I still haven’t, and won’t, show my manuscript to a single soul. I’m enjoying this time of creating and dreaming alone. I love marking up a chapter, editing it until all the marks are cleaned up, and then starting again. I imagine two more drafts before I send it to my agent for feedback—the third draft where I pay attention to the individual sentences, concentrating on language, imagery, and rhythm; and the fourth where I spend a few weeks living in the town that inspired my setting. (More on that later. No reason to go on about the fourth step when I still need to nail the second.)

So how about you? Want to say where you are in your current project or anything about your process? I’d love to see how you work.

In other news, I’m interviewed at length in a new book written by Chuck Sambuchino and published by Writer’s Digest Books. CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM is an incredibly fascinating and helpful book about how the publishing industry has changed and how writers can best adjust to the new expectations. I found myself underlining and dog-earing lots of advice, and there’s enough diversity of styles in the book to suit different personality types. I particularly like the interviews with Cal Newport and Lissa Rankin. Definitely worth picking up!

I’ll close with some thank you’s: Suder Blog, Esmee-Jacobs, Girl Called Beloved, Rhody Reader, True STORIES, Bitch Media, and The New York Times. I appreciate the press!

Tell me about something in your life that keeps you from giving your all to your current writing project.

This month, my manuscript took a back seat to my 16-year-old’s college application. He’s applying early to his first choice school, and on top of the time-consuming nature of applications—and having to balance them with a full course load of regular school work and outside activities—I was seeing him grapple with something I know all too well: self-doubt. How can I capture who I am on a piece of paper? What if I put every ounce of who I am into this thing, and it’s not good enough? What if I’ve misjudged my abilities and I don’t get into any college at all?

The good news is that this early application is now done, and I think he’ll be a strong candidate, though I understand the odds at these top schools. My son is hoping to study theoretical math in college, and luckily, they allow multi-media supplements to the application, where kids can communicate what doesn’t fit as easily into words.

Here is how he told the story of his crazy Moog project that’s made such a mess of his room and our basement:

(Direct link: http://youtu.be/4HuE6lA1TPw)

And here are two examples of different keyboard playing styles (first ELP’s Tarkus, and then Deep Purple’s Lazy) which he needed to submit in order to take electives in the music department:

(Direct link: http://youtu.be/bioEy3ppukg)

(Direct link: http://youtu.be/bCXLesQwHZc)

I know I set aside my own work again and again to tend to my son’s project and the emotions that came with it. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. The period of childhood is precious and brief, and I want to be fully engaged in it. For all of you whose children are in this same process, much luck to you. And for you writers who know rejection and self-doubt so very well, much love.

*

Some thank you’s for the links and press this month: Huffington Post, Ragnh, the Star Tribune, Great New Books, and People Magazine. Hope you’re all enjoying fall (my favorite season!), and I’m looking forward to hearing your stories.

Tell me about an anniversary you’re coming up on. It could be a time for celebration, mourning or reflection.

A year ago this month, I started writing my new novel. I learned so many lessons from the first book, and if there’s anything I can truly say I’m good at it’s learning from my mistakes and not being afraid to change course. So what guides me this time?

First, I have a road map. Driving blind may have been the right process for my first book, but this time I have a stronger sense of my journey. I think of it this way… Say I plan to drive from my house in NY to my friend’s house in San Diego. It feels sensible to know the main roads, the shortest routes, and to sketch out some places I’d like to stop at along the way. Driving blind may get me there, but the map gives me more of a guarantee, and it will save a lot of energy, not just on gas but on the driver’s stamina. Having a map won’t keep me from experiencing surprises on the road—something out the window may catch my eye, there may be an unexpected forest fire that forces me to re-route or pick up an injured passenger. In fact, the most memorable parts of the trip are likely to be the ones I can’t anticipate, and the meaning I reach at my journey’s end may be quite different than anything I originally set out to find.

Second, I’m enjoying the process, each phase of it, however long it takes. My emphasis the first time around was too often on the final product—Will it sell? Will others like it? This time I’m not interested in getting ahead of myself. Right now, I’m in most private and creative part of the process, and I’m in no hurry to involve others. Each morning I get to my office, I’m struck again how lucky I am to call this my career, and  how much I learn by wandering around the fictional worlds I create.

And finally, I am determined to have balance this time. I’m eating healthy, I’m exercising, I’m giving my eyes a break, I’m getting fresh air, and I’m enjoying my family, who can interrupt me at any time because they know they are my priority over my work.

I’m really happy with the process this time, and I’m trying my hardest to write the book I’ve always wanted to read. It’s such a welcome difference from the torment I lived through with my first. But enough of my anniversary. I want to hear about yours. Tell me your story.

*

Many thank you’s for links and press this past month: Steph the Bookworm, The New Yorker, Women’s Fiction Writers, Bokkarete, Fairfield University, Sara’s Organized Chaos, Remote Appeal, What a Feeling, Twylah, The Brain and Body, Bokverdami, 2251 Wall St, TwitTVivo, Gossip Pirate, and the American Library Association.

Tell me about your pivot from summer to fall, from vacation back to work.

Summer is almost over. I know this because there are acorns out where we’ve been barbecuing and because my kids are now very sensitive when I mention things like summer AP assignments and alarm clocks. It’s time to make the pivot from vacation to work, though I don’t feel quite ready for it. It’s been a good summer—nice to slow down and be with my family for larger chunks of the day, especially now that my kids are older and have a number of friends and activities to pull them away from home. So before I turn fully toward autumn, here’s one more look back at summer…

The beginning of my summer took a big shift when we learned my 16-year-old would be skipping his junior year and going directly into 12th grade in the fall. All of a sudden there were tests to take and colleges to visit. This was a real emotional letting-go for me. The window of time for my kids to be living at home already felt too short. But what I learned watching my son study for these tests and stroll through college campuses discussing theoretical math with professors is that he’s ready.

Once the college business was out of the way, there was plenty of downtime. The kids were busy with girlfriends and swimming and wandering through town with their friends. They took trains and subways on their own, searching out music stores, festivals, and pizza shops. They got busy with various projects—bottle rockets, a homemade Moog synthesizer, and pants made from duct tape. We visited the grandparents in Hawaii. And both boys went to camp—my 16-year-old to John’s Hopkins CTY camp for Number Theory…

…and my 15-year-old to Berklee College of Music for Guitar Sessions. Here is some of his ensemble work (click here if the embedded video doesn’t show: http://youtu.be/dMJdjMV8_D8):

The boys played a number of gigs—a Who tribute concert, a funk & reggae show, and a parade. I accompanied my oldest as a chaperone on his School of Rock AllStars tour, traveling to places like Webster Hall, Ryle’s Jazz Club, and the Gathering of the Vibes festival.

Meanwhile, my youngest went with a friend to the Dream Theater and Crimson ProjeKct concert, where he got to visit back stage with Adrian Belew and the oh-so-talented Julie Slick.

Mr. H had some great gigs, as well, and it all culminated over Labor Day weekend at our annual BBQ of Rock, where family and guests jammed all night. (As always, if you want to see the bazillions of photos I have of all these events, just friend me on Facebook.)

I’ve been taking summer at an easy pace—a little editing, a few appearances on conference panels, some visits to book clubs and libraries, a trip out to California for the Squaw Valley Alumni Reading Series. In general, though, I dropped work whenever my family asked me to, and I spent a lot of time reading for pleasure, including Wild, The Fault in Our Stars, Gilead, Await Your Reply, Tomato Red, Giovanni’s Room, and Great Expectations. Lots of family movie nights, too. Some favorites: Dr. Strangelove, Stormy Weather, Metropolis, Stand By Me, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Glory, Rear Window, Good Will Hunting, and The Last King of Scotland.

It’s felt good to slow down and put my writing aside for family. Soon, though, it will be time to get into work mode. How am I making the pivot? I’m starting with a big clean of my office—moving my desk, taking everything off the bulletin board, mopping, removing the clutter. When my boys go back to school, I’ll be anxious to get back to that first draft and take it to the next level.

So let’s hear from you. Tell me about your summer and what your plans are going ahead.

*

Some thank you’s to those who linked here or talked about my book: Caffeinated College Kid, Paula Bomer, Romancing the Writer, Shine Your Light, Birds and Blooms, Literary Olympiad, Paperback Swap, Skype-an-Author Series, Boeklover, Book and Media Kristiansand, Reading Room, Leserommet, Heather Lambie’s Self Editing, Barnes & Noble, KM Bookmarks, Bokverdami, Drinking Diaries, and One World. A big thanks to NME (New Music Express, over 7 million users a month) for posting the book trailer for UP FROM THE BLUE. How cool is that? And finally, a thank you to Cath Rine, who took this photo at the airport in Oslo, Norway!

What kinds of plans do you have for the summer?

Last summer in Tanzania with my then-9th-grader.

Our summer has only just begun. For those of you who are my friends on FaceBook, you know that my 10th grader is going to skip his junior year and graduate early. This was a decision we made with strong recommendations for it from his school, but what it also meant was cramming all of the things that are normally spread out over the junior year into one month. His ACT and SAT II Subject Tests were right on top of his finals and AP exams, giving him less than two weeks to study for them. After school let out, we visited his top college choices. All of this—tests and tours—went amazingly well; it’s just that we weren’t prepared. We were thinking it was almost summer and about sleeping in and about what we wanted to do with our downtime.

So now we are finally getting around to summer—still busy, but all things of our own choosing. The boys (including my husband) are playing more music, and soon, my oldest (Can I still call him my 10th grader a little while longer?) is going on tour with the School of Rock AllStars. I’m psyched to be chaperoning this year! All the proceeds go to the Love Hope Strength organization, a cool group of musicians and cancer survivors who have a goal of building the bone marrow donor list. Click the AllStars link if you’re interested in catching one of the shows!

So I was busy in June, too. I wrote, of course, and my brother visited (so much fun!), I gave a reading at the Syosset Library, and I finished the first draft of my new book! Next week I’m off to Squaw Valley, California to do a reading, and then I’m on that tour bus with twenty teenagers.

*

Some thank you’s this month to Bermuda Onion for the kind review of the audio version of my book, and to The Five Borough Book Review who didn’t like my book but I like the reviewing style all the same… so why not plug her blog?

*

Hope all of you are spending time doing what you love. Here’s to summer, sprinklers, growing tomatoes, lawn concerts, and meals outside by the grill!

I’m going to close with a video of my boys (on keys and guitar) with their two best friends (also brothers) practicing a Frank Zappa song. They’re growing up!

And one more: the boys performing The Who with their School of Rock (my guys are again on keys and guitar):

Any advice or encouragement for someone who can see the finish line?

I’m hoping to have a completed first draft of my new book within a month or two. I’m trying to stay focused, though my kids come first (always), and we’re currently involved in all the end of the school year madness with AP exams, finals, regents, an ACT test, SAT II subject tests, not to mention concerts and award ceremonies.

In January, when I was making good progress toward the middle of my new book, I had such confidence in my vision and my abilities. The strange thing, now that I can see the finish line, is that I’m full of insecurities.

I remember this same feeling would come over me when I was a rower in high school. I would train hard for race day and go in with a competitive attitude and muscles flexed. But when the coxswain shouted that she could see the finish line, I’d suddenly be aware of the fatigue, my fear of losing, the thought that maybe I wasn’t strong enough or talented enough to compete at this level after all.

So this is where I am, hoping to go strong toward the finish line and fighting this voice inside my head that’s scared I’m not good enough to pull it off.

*

Next month I’ll share some photos and wisdoms from recent conferences and panels I was a part of, but for now I’m going to keep my focus on finishing this draft.

Some thank you’s to those who posted about my book: LeftBrainWrite, June, Suderblog, Readers and Reference, The Mom Cage, and South Taranaki Library. Hope to see some of you this Monday, June 4th, 7pm at the Syosset Library, where I’ve been invited to help kick off the Adult Summer Reading Club. And then I’m going to beat back this fear and doubt and get myself across the finish line!