Author in the Wild
Travels and Touching Grass
May was one heck of a month where I found myself on the go nonstop in my personal life. So much so, that my week off from writing after writing an entire book in the month of April, turned into putting down the pen for all of May!
I’m glad I did because I could see burnout rearing its ugly head if I had pushed myself back into writing and editing as soon as I’d planned. By the end of the month, I was antsy to get back to what I love. But I had one last obstacle in the way, my family road trip to Grand Teton National Park!
Don’t get me wrong, despite my anxiety over the twenty plus hour drive with three young kids, I was excited to see new places and do thing I’d never done. I didn’t grow up in an “outdoor” kind of family, so trips like this were nothing I was used to. But I was so ready to get back to writing that I was bummed at the delay.
I used the endless road as an opportunity to work through some plot points, plan out future stories, and catch one of my characters out in the wild (looking at you Wells!). I was truly amazed and inspired by the beauty of nature and how different ever state was from each other in topography.
Now that it’s June I ready to hit the ground running and finally finish edits on Bound in Blood and Darkness so I can get it in the hands of beta readers by the end of the summer and into the query trenches this fall.
But my time in the great outdoors did more than inspire future stories, it got me thinking I need to be out in the world more. Writing can be pretty solitary even with the amazing writing groups I’m in. So I want to us this summer as a chance to connect with my local bookish community and simply get out of the house more.
Later this month I have a writing retreat with my online writing group and I’ll be back in the wilderness! This time, however, it’ll be more writing based and getting to meet in person people who have been such inspirations over the last year and half since I joined that group!
Outside of that planned trip, I want to visit local small bookstores, go to bookish events and signings, try different libraries, write outside of the house, and simply do things I enjoys such as going to museums and crafty places (paint your own pottery anyone?).
This author is getting outside this Summer 2026! I hope this leads to building connection with other writers, making connections with bookish people in my community, finding new opportunities, and exploring other creative avenues, Wish me luck!
Lets gooooooo!! It looks like you had an amazing adventure. The park looks beautiful. I hope you find all the events and hike all the trails this summer!!
What a great adventure!