Rejuvenation for This Writer's Soul

It's July, and I can say that honestly, it's not that hot here compared to last year. At this time last year, we had been in the hundreds for weeks. It was so hot that the pavement burned my feet even after the sun went down at night. We've been swimming, writing, job hunting, and getting ready for RWA Nationals in Anaheim this year.

RWA Nationals

I love this event, in large part because I get to see friends that I only see once a year at Nationals. Nearly all in attendance are authors—they speak my language as it were—and they don’t' look at me like I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs when I gripe about stubborn characters or worse, loud ones. They get me. I get them.

We're going to be right next door to Disneyland and Disneyphile that I am, I want to try and escape into the parks at least one of the days of my visit. I also have a lot of good friends on the West Coast, dear friends that I rarely get to see, so hooking up with them will be a plus. Definitely one of the most magical places to reconnect not only with old friends, but also myself.

Painted Desert

One of the best parts of Nationals this year will be driving through the desert in New Mexico and Arizona. I love to stop at night, in the middle of nowhere and actually see the Milky Way. After years of city living, it's heartening to look up and see the galaxy we're a part of. So often, as a writer, I get caught up in the worlds that I create and inhabit in the bits and bytes of my computer screen. I forget to look at the world around me and truly appreciate it.

A drive through the desert is one way to remind me of this greater world, this universe we're all a part of.

Sunset on the Pacific

Anaheim is also not that far from the Pacific Ocean—definitely not as far as it is from where I live. I plan to escape the hotel and venture down to the beach. I want to sit there, somewhere along the shore, with the wind brushing my cheeks, the smell of the salt air and the sun setting into the water.

Pure magic.

Rejuvenating the Writer's Soul

Last year at RWA Nationals in New York, I made a commitment to myself and this year, I get to celebrate the one year anniversary of that commitment, celebrate the accomplishments I've made and celebrate the world that I live in. As an author, I get to live a thousand lives, but as me, I only get this one. I can't wait to enjoy every moment of it.

What are your plans this July?