Just stick out your chin and grin and get thee to the library!

So, here in the Boston area we are having our twelfth consecutive day of some form of rain, whether it is trace amounts or of the copious sort. Today the skies are very prolific and here's what has become a familiar sight outside of my door--
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​But I know from my days working at a bookstore, while raising my young family, that a rainy day is a great day for BOOKS! Hopefully you're able to cozy up with a book at some point today or your next rainy day. 

I decided to go for a classic and tuck into an author I have surprisingly never read: Agatha Christie. And the best place to start was with one of her more famous mysteries: Murder on the Orient Express.
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It's a great read so far. So, if you find yourself stuck with a day that's grey, go visit your local library--they are open now! Yay! Or step into a bookstore near you and pick something up to distract you from the rather soggy scene outside.

On one more positive note--for the gardeners and conservationists or people who like to save a buck or two off their water bill--my rain barrel is full to the brim this summer, so far. Not that I've needed to use it with all this rain.

Enjoy the summer months and hopefully we'll see sun shining soon!

It's summer. Sometimes it's hard to stay focused on a project when the sun shines, the pool waves, kids abound and schedules turn loose-y goose-y. So, I am grateful for my writer friends. We need them. You know the ones that like to talk about writing--
who are actually willing to read what you write. 

I just got off the phone after a good chat about the most recently revised version of my manuscript Lucy Bound in Lyrics with my writer friend and author of the daily blog Existential Auto Trip, Dom Capossela. He was one of the small, brave group of writers who strolled in to be part of the writers' critique group I was starting over four years ago in 2017. Wow! Here's a photo of that first meeting--though the current members are all different now.

Lucy Bound in Lyrics has undergone several revisions since then and I have grown as a writer as a result. At least I hope I have:) If Dom's feedback is any indication, I am on the right track. He really liked Lucy and appreciated her father's character. It was good to hear from a father who can see through that lens since he is the first male beta reader I've had. 

So, thanks Dom! For all your support along my writing journey. It's important to have people in my life who will read my stuff and, if I'm really lucky, are willing to carve out an hour to talk about it on a summer's day.

I am grateful for good friends and honest feedback!