The Writer Takes a Vacation !!!

I love going on vacation .. preferably by myself or with a close friend. Someplace warm in the winter, cooler in the summer. Or ... Las Vegas anytime.

However, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and take a family vacation. The problem is, most writers haven't a clue about taking a vacation. Our schedules are regimented when we write, whether we do it full time or grab a hour here or there. Vacations throw us off our mindset.

And, heaven forbid, if said vacation takes place in cramped quarters. During my travels (by car) with family, I did realize a few things:

1. You can't listen to romance novels on tape (at least not mine) with a 5 yr old in the car.
2. Not every stop along the way is going to offer research opportunities. Unless, of course, you're writing about a fast-food restaurant with bigger-than-life reptiles in their play area.
3. You always see something worth writing down when you're the one driving.
4. Social media must be delayed until the grandchildren are asleep. Unfortunately, by then, you're just too tired to care about promotion.
5. Ideas for new plots will attack you from all sides and from the most impractical places. For both #3 above and this observation, keep a tape recorder handy.
6. Finally, you definitely don't get to read as much as you'd planned!

Hopefully everyone will get to enjoy a vacation this summer. If so, remember the sunblock (even for the car), a few good books, the tape recorder or notepad for plot ideas, and lots of patience if you're traveling with small children!

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Looking for a good summer read ... here's a suggestion ... just in case you're already not hot enough!

Boston, 1991

Decorated war hero Reece Michaels agrees to go undercover in order to bring down the Irish Mob. In return, the civilian life he’s coveted for the past six years will be returned to him.

Hired by mob boss Sean O’Malley to protect his youngest son, Reece soon discovers the young man needs more protection from his own family than its enemies.

What Reece doesn’t count on is his instant attraction to the police chief’s beautiful and willing daughter. Abby Mackenzie is the younger sister of a woman with whom Reece once had a torrid affair. He’s determined to not give in to Abby’s come-hither ways. After all, one Mackenzie woman was more than enough.

Get it at Amazon. Bonus: on sale for just 99 cents!

Also available in audio book from Audible.

Until next month ... have a great summer!

Nancy