Sometimes an author writes a line that sticks with you.  Here are a few of my favorites, including one of my own (yes, I know, presumptuous).   What are your favorite lines from other authors, but especially yourself?

For Sale:  Baby Shoes.  Never Worn.  Earnest Hemingway (a six line story competition)

“Sometimes a woman needs a man for company, no matter how useless he is.”  Lisa Kleypas, Sugar Daddy

“I have sex,” Grace shrugged.
“I meant with a man,” Claudia said dryly.
“Now why would I ruin something so good by inviting a man along?”  Sarah Mayberry,  All Over You

“You signed me up for an orgy?  My own mother signed me up for an orgy?”  Masha Levinson, Cruising for Love

On Tuesday, our little family celebrated my beloved’s birthday. And, while it was a happy celebration, for me, it was bittersweet, too. You see, his birthday is two weeks before the start of school – and, for me, the signal that summer is nearly over. I need to get ready for school: my job, my real job, is in a school.

And that means my writing life, at least the life I’ve been living for the last three months, is almost over. No more planning my day around the hours of writing, no sketching out a scene on paper before hitting Scrivener. No more gleeful Facebook word count posts. No more staying up late.

I started the summer telling myself I would pump out 60,000 words before school started again. At this writing, I’ve gotten 36,000 done. I haven’t finished my story, I’ve made it to the middle. That’s it.

Where I write.

It’s SO tempting to throw up my hands and say, “Well, okay. You’ve failed again, you naughty girl. You said you could do it, and you didn’t, didn’t, did not. Shame on you.” Yes, I’m very critical of myself. It’s a problem, and I’ve been working on that.

Now, I catch myself. Hold on a minute, missy, I say to my inner critic. What did I do this summer besides write? Cuz I was sure wasn’t laying back and eating ice cream all summer long. Here’s what I did, I tell that silly inner critic:

— I completed six graduate credit hours, attaining 30 post-graduate hours, and that means a raise. That required four weekends of class, plus travel time, plus homework.

— I fixed two leaky faucets in our house, and that meant hours on YouTube, so I could learn how to take them apart and put them back together. And I spent $20 for the materials. Go, me! At a time when we need to save $$, I rock.

— I researched roofers (read: hours), took estimates (more hours), and signed a contract (still more hours). Next Thursday, the leaky roof will be ripped off. On Friday, I’ll wake up in a house with a brand new, weather-tight roof (note to self: make trip to hardware store for two things you said you’d get for the roofer – more hours).

— I started de-cluttering the house. Don’t even get me started on that, you know what I’m talking about: hours.

— I put together my author page on Facebook: Susan Jeffery Books. I have an online presence!

This, and so many other little things, have made my life better and filled my summer. Many times I told myself it felt that the entire summer was enchanted. Hubby decided we should go out every week this summer, just the two of us. So, we’ve seen Shakespeare under the stars, heard readings of new plays that are in development and participated in “talk backs” with the writers of those plays. We’ve enjoyed a picnic before every single evening out. We found a new place for better ice cream! (say it with me: more hours)

It’s not that I failed to make a goal. I’m allowing myself to re-focus, re-direct, and re-imagine my writing life. Sure, it cost me hours, and words.

Words alone do not make a life complete.

Not only that, I’m happy with the story I’ve put together. It’s funny and fresh, and I’m in the middle of writing the first love scene. Which, believe me, took a week or so before I’d caught the drift of what I wanted to say.

Even better, the story isn’t falling apart. There’s no sagging middle!

So here’s the moment where I pull on my iron underpants and congratulate myself: I had a good summer. No regrets.

I can say, with truth: I got a lot done.

How do you react when life takes time away from your writing? Do you get totally distracted? Or can you say to yourself, “Here is where I am needed at this moment. I’ll be right back!”

My next post will probably be about how I weathered the start of the school year and what happened to my writing mojo after September 1.

And yes, I will be back.

Ever feel guilty about something that gave you great pleasure?

There are so many days in which we give to others that when we take time to do something we want to do, we feel guilty–or at least I do. A perfect example was last week:

My mom recently moved back into the home she was raised in up in Northern Michigan and I went up to see her for a week along with my youngest daughter. We drove twelve hours from Western Maryland to Northern Michigan and had a great time, just the two of us. It was our first ‘mother/daughter’ trip.

Now originally we were going up to help my mother paint and unpack but it ended up becoming a vacation of sorts. My sister who lives up there, near my mom, came over for the week. We spent days traveling to the towns I’d lived in when I was younger, out to my grandparents property, and up to see the sights at Mackinaw Island, Sleeping Bear Dunes and Grand Traverse Light House.

The Grand Hotel, Mackinaw Island, Michigan

I did manage to put together most of my mother’s library (5 huge bookshelves in one bedroom) but there are still boxes of books (I get my love of literature from her). Still, part of me feels guilty that I was only able to do that much.

When I returned home, part of me felt guilty for spending money on my trip when it could have gone to something else and then I stopped…

My baby girl sitting in The Grand Hotel

Why should I feel guilty about enjoying myself with my family? I splurged so my daughter and I could tour the Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island–something I’d never been able to do when I was younger. But now I’ve been inside, took pictures, sat in the white rocking chairs on the worlds longest porch with my daughter and gazed out over the Straits of Mackinaw (where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron come together and the Mackinac Bridge rises in the distance to the right and Round Island Lighthouse is seated to the left).

The day couldn’t have been more beautiful. Daughter and I even braved the trek up Sleeping Bear Dunes, that week, (while my mother and sister opted not to–chickens! LOL!) to see if we could view Lake Michigan on the other side. We traversed up the main dune and over a few more, but when other visitors told us there were still a few more dunes to trek we decided to head back down as it was getting late and we were exhausted. Still we had a blast, worked up an appetite and slept so well that night!

The Mackinac Bridge and the Straits of Mackinaw

So when I questioned my spending habits I tallied up the cost (which wasn’t a whole lot but I could’ve saved it for other things), and then tallied up the memories that were made…Priceless!!

What have you done for ‘guilty pleasures’?

A wind blown Loni Lynne at The Grand Hotel, Mackinaw Island, Michigan