Nearly December

I could ask you where the time has gone but you're probably just as surprised as I am that it's nearly December already. And what have we to show for it?

Well..... I have one very far-behind Nano attempt. But I'm not giving up. I'm going to get it all caught up and even sprint ahead this weekend. Why not? My kids can survive on the Thanksgiving leftovers.

And I've finished up two books and gotten them out the door for their respective next steps. (One is my middle grade biography of David Watson Taylor. The other is hopefully the first in a reluctant reader series I'm co-authoring with my BFF Ally-Down-Under.)

Which brings me to another point. Or maybe THE point. Isn't it amazing how much there is to learn from working with another writer? I don't mean the things we learn from doing a critique. I mean the things we learn from being part of another writer's process. Ally is amazingly visual. She 'sees' the story as she write. Turns out I 'hear' it. (Who knew?) Between the two of us, we make a fantastic writer. Although in all modesty I really must say we rock individually as well. But as a result of working with Ally, I'm trying to picture what I'm writing as I write rather than going back and adding it in later.

So. Just another middle grade book to finish up. This one is hopefully going to be the first in a series for middle grade girls. And then that mystery that's been hanging around on the back burner so long it's beginning to curdle. And that essay on Baseball. And something about foster care. And a couple of other things for Washington Parent...

I've never been busier. Or happier.

Happy Thanksgiving.