I’ve been stuck in summertime writing limbo.

I feel horribly guilty. For two weeks Kiddo has been in summer camp eight hours a day. And I accomplished nearly nothing.

Okay, for one of those weeks he kept me up all night coughing and was home sick for a day. And I absolutely do not function without sleep. (Thank God he was an angel baby, because there is no way we would have survived if he had been one of those infants who had their days and nights mixed up or didn’t sleep more than a few hours at a stretch for two years.) Being the kind and generous kid that he is, he shared his sickness with his Mommy, who always gets it ten times worse. Kinda hard to write when your skull is pounding or you’re floating away in a medicine-induced fog. Before the sick set in I caught up on my errands, did some minor focus group work, attempted to plan a birthday getaway, dealt with insane familial dramas… And made excuses.

After 28,000 words, I am at a major transition point in my novel. There is a total setting change. I’m about to introduce a ton of new characters and I need to curve the plot in a different direction. I took some time to immerse myself in my new local–scanning photos, digging for video, reading blogs to bring me back. I need to feel the weight of the saturated air, hear the sounds of the lush jungle around me, smell the ever present beans and rice mixed with the briny sea air to send me back and create my world.

I also am attempting to figure out my “black moment” and all the technicalities that go along with it. I know how my story ends, but how do I bring together all the loose ends and tie them into a giant knot that will have readers caring enough to untie? Should I add some more elements of mystery? Make it a bit more comical? Both?

Decisions must be made about tense as well. I had been writing in first person present tense, but I think I must switch to past tense.

Decisions, decisions…

Later this week the Romance Writers of America National Conference will be swinging through my part of the world and a few of my fellow book club members have decided to crash the book signing event. I’m hoping a gathering of such talent and tenacity–authors who managed to muddle through all the muck to actually complete and PUBLISH books–will inspire me and make me get moving again. Or perhaps I can just hope for some miracle of osmosis.

On the bright side, I have finally been savoring some great (and a few not so great) summer reads.

For now I have only three weeks of summer vacation left to enjoy with my Kiddo. I need to take advantage of our scant time together, soak in the sunshine, the play time, and create a few memories.

And get rid of this dang flu.