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Saturday, May 30, 2015

My Summer To-Do List

Naomi Bennet posted a long summer to-do list on Wonderland Creek the other day, and inspired me to write a similar post.  I love lists, I make to-do lists allllllll the time, and I have a ton of things I want to do this summer, so why not share?

This summer, I want to:

~Start writing my next novel, another YA western

(It doesn't involve any Rangers, but I can't resist using this photo whenever I get a chance.)

~Go see Age of Ultron again

~Read 3 books about Robin Hood (because My Year With Robin Hood has stalled)

~Read at least 6 other books from my TBR shelves

~Read at least 3 other books from the library

(I will, of course, look exactly like this while reading all those books.)

~Have a squirt gun fight with my kids (Actually, just had one yesterday, but need to have another!)

~Have friends over for a sprinkler party (Been meaning to do this for two years now...)

~Clean out and organize my "crafting corner" (Which has turned into a Giant Pile O' Stuff.  Again.)

~Make a collage of inspirational writing quotes to hang above our computer desk

(And they will revolve around this quote, which I got
from Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper by SARK.)

~Finish watching Agents of SHIELD (We got soooo behind because of being sick and being gone, etc.)

~Watch Cranford and Return to Cranford (I just got the first disc out of the library.)

~Try new popsicle recipes (My kids can't seem to eat enough popsicles.  Hmm.)

~Make lavender lemonade

Lavender Lemonade Recipe
(This is one of the main reasons I harvested and dried my lavender last year.)

~Dance in the rain (For obvious reasons.)

~Clean the pantry (Doesn't sound fun, but needs to be done.)

~Watch at least 6 movies from my TBW shelf (It's triple-stacked right now and very sad.)

~Figure out if the dragon story in my head is workable (I never write fantasy or magical realism.  But I want to write this sooooo much right now.)

(This is a statue in Varna, Bulgaria, and I didn't even know it existed until
about 2 minutes ago, but it needs to be on the front cover of my book, if I write it.)

~Get off the computer and play with my kids more (Which I'm going to do right now.)

What about you?  Got a list of things you want to do or accomplish this summer?  I hope to come back and revisit this in the fall to see how much of it I got finished.

24 comments:

  1. Does that YA western have anything to do with a time traveler and a gyrocycle thing? ;)
    Cool list!

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    1. Ashley, no, it doesn't. It does involve a lynch mob, though.

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  2. That all sounds great :)
    I have a whole bunch of stuff to do this summer, including (like you) writing a novel! Yippee!! It's something I've always wanted to do and never really been able to, but this time it seems to be working all right (so far!), and I'm REALLY excited about it. It's about England in WWII.
    I hope your YA Western goes well--I love Westerns, but I can't write one myself because I don't know enough about the time period, so I'm sticking to World War II.

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    1. Jessica, oooooh! A first novel! Awesome! I love WWII.

      And that's kind of why I write westerns -- I know the time period and love it, and all its trappings. (I know a lot about WWII too, though, cuz I write fanfic set there. If I ever get tired of westerns, I can hop over to that era.)

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    2. Yeah, it really seems to work best if you write about what you know well. Writing is so much fun--I love imagining characters :)

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    3. I say, write what you love. It's relatively easy to learn things, so writing what you know is a moot point. But if you don't love it, what's the point?

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    4. Sorry, I made a comment and then realized it looked weird, so I deleted it. What I was trying to say was, I agree with you--you do have to love what you write, and that's the most important thing.

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    5. Precisely :-D

      What do you love about the WWII era?

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    6. Well, I've always been kind of in awe of all the people who lived through that war and had to make so many sacrifices. When I was a kid, I read a WWII novel set in Holland called "The Winged Watchman," and it was amazing how much the characters went through.

      I also find the whole thing of "American-soldiers-going-over-to-Europe-and-meeting-European-folks" super fascinating, for some reason. I don't know why . . . It just seems like it has the potential for a really cool story. So my novel is about an English girl who becomes friends with two American pilots stationed in England. I can't say much more than that without major spoilers, unfortunately :)

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    7. Sounds like you're well on your way! And yes, the sort of mixing of cultures was very fascinating. And led to some interesting romances and friendships, too!

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    8. Thanks! That's what I'm hoping. :)

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  3. I've watched Cranford (and loved it) but I have yet to watch Return to Cranford. I need to finish Agents of Shield too. I stopped halfway through the first season when I got really busy with school. :(

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    1. Lois, Cranford seems to be pretty universally loved, so I'm greatly looking forward to it! Got the first disc, so I hope to see it in a day or two.

      Agents of SHIELD got Really REALLY REALLY good at episode 14 of Season 1. And then Season 2 started out a little slow too, but I just watched eps 15 and 16 last night, and it got Really Good again. So I definitely recommend watching more when you get a chance!

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  4. I'm so honoured that I inspired you to write this post! Your list as very lovely - especially the squirt gun fighting. Sounds so much fun! :-)

    Best of luck on your new novel! I had an EXTREMELY messy crafting shelf in my room for ages - kept on procrastinating the organising of it. I finally did, though, and it feels so much better now. Craft corners are the easier kind to get messy, right?

    Lavender lemonade? How beautiful does that sound (and look!)? My, very lucious.

    And Cranford! Have fun watching it! I personally didn't enjoy Return to Cranford very much, but it's definitely still worth watching. Tom Hiddleston is adorable.

    ~ Naomi

    PS Bennet is with one T, by the way. It's the Pride and Prejudice Bennet. :-)

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    1. You know, I have the hardest time remembering if the P&P family has one T or two. Weird mental block. Sorry!

      My craft corner has stuff not just for me, but for art projects my kids do for school, and also for the Sunday School class I help teach, and it is a DISASTER. I should take before-and-after photos.

      Wait, what? Tom? Tom Hiddleston? Is in Return to Cranford? I... I am so watching the first half a lot faster than I'd previously expected. I somehow had no idea? Because I haven't read through his IMDB page for a couple years? Because I'm lame? OOOOOOH! I'm quite excited!!!

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  5. This post is awesome! I should do a squirt gun fight with my brother too!

    ~Jamie

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    1. Hee, thanks, Jamie! And you should. Squirt gun fights are always a good idea.

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  6. Cool! I love that you're doing a Robin Hood year...it makes me happy, for some reason:D (You should totally reread Ivanhoe. But that's just me;D )

    Good luck on all your plans!

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    1. Olivia, it makes me happy too. And if I can, I do want to reread Ivanhoe later this year!

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  7. Thanks, Walker Louise! I actually made the lavender lemonade last week, and my kids declared it smelled and tasted too much like flowers, but I liked it :-)

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  8. So how's it going so far? Have you watched Cranford and Return to Cranford yet? Because I may just happen to love them both and am excited to hear that you want to watch them! Will look forward to hearing your thoughts. :)

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    1. Let's see... so far I've started my next novel, gone to see Age of Ultron again, read 1 book from my TBR shelf (and am almost done with another), had another squirt gun fight with my kids, started cleaning my crafting corner, watched all of Cranford (RTC is on hold at the library and I'll watch it next week -- if I liked it as much as I liked Cranford, I'm so buying the series. Great fun!), tried one new popsicle recipe, made lavender lemonade, danced in the rain, cleaned 5/7 of the pantry, watched 1 movie from my TBW shelf, and figured out that the dragon story in my head IS workable (but not something I need to start right now).

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