Back from the Beach

Wow, that was a good trip.  It was a great Independence Day and I got to spend a good deal of time with my family.  Oddly, I even managed to finish "Blood Rain."  I also finished a great deal of notes for the second book in the series, "Blood Moon."  Even though I finished a great deal of work, it didn't feel like working.  I was also having a lot of fun and I got some much needed rest.

To sum the trip up, we stayed at my Aunt's beach house.  I took several boat rides down the inlet, though I didn't have time for any fishing--maybe next year.  I also got to spend a day at the beach body boarding on the waves and lying in the shallow water soaking up the sun.  We also saw the new "Spiderman" movie, which was very good, and saw a laser light show.  I also went bowling, and was as terrible at it as ever, but still had fun.  I have an issue where my wrist twists around when I try to let go of the ball.  I need to get over that.  (We did have some car trouble that required us to spend some money, and my stepdad got into a car accident, but thankfully he was okay.)

We watched a massive fireworks display on the fourth, attended a neighborhood party next door, and this time we got to see the boat parade.  We also went out to eat seafood one evening and hibachi another.  During the time we spent at the house, I mostly took naps in the sun, wrote my book, played video games, and watched movies.  The trip was just what I needed.

I'm looking very forward to DragonCon.  I just finished Brandon Sanderson's "Mistborn" and it was an excellent book.  I knew it was probably going to be good.  I've been doing lots of research and reading books so that I can utilize the chance to meet so many great authors all at once.  So far I've liked every book that I've read.

Still, this book really impressed me and I'm planning to write a review of it next week.  Please, read this book if you like fantasy.  The magic system is new and original, and the universe was very well developed and interesting.  After reading this, it makes me want to read some more of Robert Jordan since I never finished the whole series and Sanderson is writing the final book.

Yeah, I'm probably going to act like a fangirl a little when I meet Brandon Sanderson.  I just hope that I don't clam up and get too shy to give him a business card and talk to him about his writing.  I hope I'll even get to talk to him about his writing at all, but there's a chance he won't have the time to talk to me.  There are writing workshops offered at DragonCon being taught by good authors, but, sadly, I don't have the money to attend any of them.  I'm paying for the trip, and even that is financially straining.  I can only hope that maybe I'll run into him after the book signing is over.  Please, be praying for me.

Having very little money is one of the prices that I pay for staying home and trying to break into the writing industry.  Hopefully, one day, I'll be able to contribute to my home income, but in the meantime, I make up for it by keeping things clean, orderly, and making my house feel like a home.  I owe a great deal to my husband for letting me stay home to follow my dream.

He told me recently that he believes when I finally do attract an agent and my work gets published, that people will like my stories enough for them to become best sellers.  He also said that I tell good stories and have a good writing style.  That really meant something from him, because he's also my biggest critic and is very discerning about the books that he likes.  He tells me bluntly how he feels about my work, and that helps me to improve.

Well, I've made this a long blog post, but I had to make up for missing a week, didn't I?  Hopefully, I'll get to write that review next week.  Keep reading, writing, and (as I learned last week) always leave some time to take a break and relax.  It can be quite inspiring.