I know you all know how I am about work. I know it, because I get teased about it. So you'll be happy to know I took the weekend off, mostly. The First Reader and I drove down to my Mom's place, dropped off the Little Man (I need to talk blog names with him again. Two years ago he still wanted to be my little man, but now that he's inches taller than I am, that may have changed!) and then went to meet up with other family for a getaway. It wasn't anything fancy or expensive, just food, conversation, comfortable accommodations, and restful. The restful was what I needed, because by yesterday when we got home, after a short nap (I do almost all the driving on trips like this, so we can talk. If he drives, his deaf side is toward me), I actually had energy. It was amazing! First time in a month I've felt bouncy.
Of course, I also managed to write a few thousand words yesterday, because my brain had taken a break along with my body. I find it difficult to shut the brain down long enough to get it to rest. It's like a toddler who doesn't want to nap. "I have things to do! I might miss something!" On this trip, it's not that I turned it off. It's more that I distracted it with adult conversation. And I wasn't at home, so there was nothing I could do about the neverending list of chores that Must be Done Now. Nor could I be pulled this way and that by the kids needing rides, or stuff, or... Teens are exhausting. I thought, when they were all toddlers, that when they were all teens they would be so much more independent and I could start relaxing the Mom-radar. Not so! If anything it has increased in tempo and urgency. From preventing them from jumping off beds and doing themselves an injury, I'm trying to make sure they learn to drive a hurtling ton of metal and plastic safely to keep them from killing themselves and others. It's stressful. It's wonderful, but a break is so good from time to time.
The First Reader has been pushing for us to take these weekends since the beginning of the year, and we have managed it twice in six months. We're shooting for every other month. He'd like every month, but I don't think that's possible. There's always something. I do think that he's right. This is vital for us. It helps him, in that he gets my undivided attention (as much as my squirrel brain ever can give because Oooh! Shiny! writing and art, and is that a bug?) and a break from the house and kids. It helps me to actually relax in a way I find almost impossible at home. yes, it costs a little in terms of both time and money, but it's totally worth it.
So! In terms of writing this month, I have finished a short for an anthology I was invited to at LibertyCon and will be delivering that to the editor in advance of the due date. Set in the Tanager's universe, it's more Jem, Eby, and crew. I am hard at work on another story in the Amaya Lombard world - picking up right after the close of Possum Creek - and that one is slated for another anthology. It's due August 1, and I think I can manage that! I've plotted two other shorts for anthologies with deadlines later this year, so I'll dive write (heh. right) into those once I'm done. I have a lot of momentum, which is good, because I need to start writing Tanager's Flight and Bone Sigh (WitchWard book 3) as soon as possible to accompany the shorts. In the cracks of time, I'll be continuing work on Ten Pigeons, and seeing if I can't break the block on East Witch. That block is starting to annoy me seriously. I should be able to finish that book. It's 70% complete, for goodness sakes!