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Is there such a thing as writers withdrawal?

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I may find out. For the first time ever, I’m not taking my laptop on vacation. We’re going to Canada, and I don’t want any problems on the way back. I’m not on a deadline—my agent is having a couple of interns beta read my book before we send it on sub in the fall. I’m working on a MG light fantasy but it’s like # 3 in the pipeline. It will just be weird not to be writing. Anyone else dealt with that?

BEST HOLIDAY PARTY EVER

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No food or drink. No ugly sweaters. No decor (unless you count my Ravinia poster, clearly visible in the background. Just 9 writers and their agent (the marvelous Jes Trudel) getting to know each other in a video chat. I shall be posting more about these marvelous people in the near future.

UPDATE FROM THE WRITING TRENCHES

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I’ve been somewhat MIA lately. We’re moving next month and downsizing from a house to an apartment is all-consuming. Meantime, I have a MG mystery in submission, an adult mystery almost ready to go to my agent for her suggested revisions, and I’m 34K words in on the first draft of a YA mystery about an illuminated manuscript. Latest very odd note on that one: part of the plot turns on the MC’s possible relationship to a famous 15th century Spanish scribe, Alfonso de Zamora. I learned a few months ago through Ancestry that I could be related to a famous 15th century German scribe. Last week I learned I have several cousins named de Zamora. Cue Twilight Zone music.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM HIGHLIGHTS

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Just returned from Writers’ Paradise, or as we kid lit authors also call it, “the Highlights Foundation Retreat.” Within an hour of arriving at my cabin, I had a major breakthrough with my MC. She’s not an “average” teen after all. In fact she’s cynical and would happily live in a museum.

I introduced my husband to the place. He wants to schlepp up his computer and compose here now.

I made a great new friend (several actually). You meet the nicest, most interesting people here.

Also, I wrote lots of words in my YA mystery WIP, took lovely walks, and ate mountains of gourmet cooking. This guy (gal?) didn’t show up this trip. Maybe next time.

I HAVE AN AGENT

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And she is the fabulous Jes Trudel of TRF in Canada. And we clicked in 2 seconds. In a sign that this was meant to be, her mom lives around the corner from out favorite winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. And the winery’s name is Marynissen, which is as close to Nissenson as you’ll ever get in a winery name.

I Have Not Been Abducted by Aliens

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Every now and then, I feel the urge to blog. Usually that urge comes on when someone asks, “Do you have a blog?” And I think very hard and remember that I do. And then I realize they’re asking me, because they might actually want to read it.

Speaking of reading, we were walking in Kensington (Maryland—no palaces there, but lots of fab Victorians), and we happened upon the Noyes Library Story Walk. They set up signs featuring illustrations from children’s books along a stone path. The theme changes from time to time, and there are QR codes on each sign if you want to learn more. This is brilliant. Every library should do this, even if that means adding a stone path.

SOMETIMES A CIGAR IS JUST A CIGAR

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And sometimes you should just enjoy something because it’s enjoyable. I’ve watched a few K dramas* and have researched a couple.* A blogger insisted one of them was a Resurrection metaphor and quoted a dozen New Testament passages to “prove” it. Then I read an interview with the screenwriter. His inspiration was Pokémon Go.

*Does 11 qualify as a few?

*Does 11 qualify as a couple?