How’s everyone’s Summer going? I cannot believe that it’s already mid-way through. Time for an update!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

We escaped to the coast last week on a trip to Santa Cruz.  Oh, how I love the ocean! Feels like a slice of Heaven being by the waves, in the sand. I was able to stop thinking about work (yep I have a job other than being an author!), not think about bills, or the upcoming school year—just enjoy the ocean breeze!

It was a week of beach fun, hikes, relaxation, ocean waves, cooler temps, ice cream, and lots of kiddo time. 🏖 Summer at its best 🌞

I’m a coffee lover, if I haven’t said it before, so we made sure to stop at a few of our favorites. And some great restaurants.

Science Mixed with Vacation

Nothing says relaxing vacation like throwing in some STEM, amiright? 😆 Ok, actually this one was so much fun for all four of us: the Seymour Marine Discovery museum. Went on a tour of the reserve, and I’m going to brag for a second, the kids knew so much already about wildlife, marine life, and native plants. So either they are realllly into it like my DH and me, or they have watched more episodes of the Wild Kratts than I realized. 😃

Reading with the Kiddos

In Santa Cruz we stopped at our favorite comic book shop, Atlantis Fantasy World, and both kiddos picked out a book or two. My daughter wanted a collection of Peanuts comic strips, and my son wanted a SpongeBob graphic novel. They have great taste!

Back here at home Daughter and I are truckin’ through the last of the Land of Stories series. I’ll leave that one for now and get a review when we finish. Sigh. 😑

Son’s been bouncing around between older favorites like Treasure Island, and Captain Underpants (wow that’s a weird combo 😆) But we just picked up another classic Where the Red Fern Grows, which I admit I’ve never read! We’ve just cracked it open, but so far it’s good. I was warned it has some sad parts…I’ll prepare now.

For myself, this summer’s been a bit bouncy in the reading department, too. Started out reading Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine, since it’s a story of a boy in a glorious Summer and Bradbury’s writings are some of my favorites. Then I picked up a few new indie author books (gotta support my fellow indies!) and somehow found a book called The Book of Gothel and I Cannot Put It Down!!

Its’s a fairytale retelling around the story of Rapunzel, but so much more than that. I’m about a third of the way already, which is fast for me. I’ll give a review when done!

If you need other book recommendations, or just are curious, check out my Author page on Goodreads!

It’s a Bird, it’s a Plane, it’s The Mark of the Artist!

If you’re in the Sacramento area you can now check out The Mark of the Artist from our local library system! Is it bad I want to go all the way to the central branch and visit my book? Does that make me crazy? 🤔

Upcoming Short Story

I’ll end with a bit of writing news. I’m currently working on a short story to go along with The Mark of the Artist. It’s tentatively called “Maisie’s Escape,” and you guessed it, it’s about Maisie, a girl of about 8, who is full of spirit and mischief. She is one of my favorite side characters in The Mark of the Artist, and was so much fun to write.

Since she’s such a great character, I started the short story…also at the request of my kiddos 🩷💙. So stay tuned for more about “Maisie’s Escape” 😁

That’s all for now! Hope everyone else is able to take some relaxing time, breathe in the summer air, and disconnect this summer. Even if only for a moment or two. Recharge. ⚡️