Jen's Character Arc : Jen, the Circus Lion

As summer has been winding down and school is beginning to wind up I feel as if I have been doing nothing but jumping through hoops.

This time of year is always crazy for me. My kids are anxious and needing to get back into a structured environment. I am ready for some structure of my own, too.

I don't know about all of you, but summers are lethal to my house. I have spent the last week digging through my kids closets, (being horrified by the horror!!!) throwing everything away I can. I am not a sentimental mom, so if my kids what to save anything from their childhood to give to their own children one day they are out of luck.

Right now our days are filled with running to this school meeting for one kid, then another meeting for another. I have been making sure the kids are up to date with their Dr. visits for shots and sports. I have an endless list of school supplies to buy (planing on being broke for the unforeseeable future). And, the fall is our crazy sports season for the kids so right now I have to get all of that ready. This is the time of year where I go, go, go. I pretty much live in my car.

Then there is my schooling. taking about hoops. It seems that ASU is struggling to believe that I have lived in Arizona for the last thirty years. Sometime today, I will be hauling myself and my kids down to the university to get that straightened out. But I am registered, and I have ordered most of my books. I am excited and nervous and a bit ill all at the same time. I go from anticipation to wondering what the heck I am thinking.

And like any lion that is asked to jump through hoops in this crazy circus, I am a bit grumpy. What I really want to do is sit on the sofa with a book. Or better yet, write for hours on end.

I have been semi productive with my writing. This summer I did a total overhaul on my recent novel. After finishing this latest version I loaned it out to several teenagers…boys and girls. This was frightening. The one thing I know about teenagers, having two of my own, is that they are brutally honest. This is a good quality in a beta reader, yet, I was still nervous, (I didn't want to cry in front of a fourteen-year-old, which I knew I would do if they told me they hated my story.) It seems like I worried needlessly because the responses have been overwhelmingly positive. There really is something incredible about watching the eyes of a youth light up as they talk about your characters and your stories. I can definitely get used to this. THIS is why I write.

So anyway, while I am waiting to hear back on submissions I am inching my way through the sequel. I am so busy with all of the hoops that this process is taking much longer than I would like. An hour here or there is not a fun way to write a novel, but I am progressing. (Sorry to anyone waiting to read part 2 because it may take me a while).

Sometimes you just have to trudge through and do what you can and call it good. At least that's my philosophy. I am ready to put a close on this summer chapter. It has been a blast, but all good things must come to an end, right?

Here is a few pics of the summer….