Three days into my “summer off” and I’m stressing, not sleeping, fretting about how to get everything done, and making lists. There is something sick about making lists for your time off, isn’t there? I wrote a book once called Tropical Heat (Kensington, 1997) in which the uptight heroine sets all sorts of rules for this pretend Hawaiian honeymoon and the laidback hero tells her, “It’s a vacation. Vacations don’t have rules.” How come I can write that down in a book but I can’t do it in real life? I AM THE UPTIGHT HEROINE.

Here is the short list of some of the good things I want to do this summer (the entire list would make your eyes glaze over and includes boring things like finding a dentist):

1. Clean up the gardens (thus the lovely rose pic from the backyard). Since we moved into this house last year, I haven’t touched a thing in the yard.
2. Finish painting/wallpapering the kitchen and front hall.
3. Go to the beach (if I would do something about making reservations, this would be more likely to happen).
4. Learn to use the scanner I got for my birthday (it’s still in the box).
5. Write proposals.

I just need to relax and remember that I don’t have to do all of this at once and on Tuesday because what I really want to do this summer while I’m off deadline is feel the grass between my toes, read some really good books, listen to my children laugh, and watch the bluebirds at my feeders.

What about you? What are the good things on your list this summer?

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There are two things I do every single day, no matter how manic my life is. I make the bed, and I clean up the kitchen. The entire house can be falling around my ears but my God the bed is made and the granite countertops are sparkling (countertops that we got for an amazing bargain because my husband is an eBay shopper extraordinaire and yes, you can even buy granite on eBay!!). I don’t know why it makes me feel right about my world to have the bed made and the granite sparkling when everything else looks like a tsunami came through, but it does. I like to light a candle, too.

Yesterday my husband came home and the granite was NOT sparkling. I think he thought he was in the wrong house. He said, the kitchen isn’t clean. He looked so lost. He can leap hurdles over the laundry on the way to his easy chair and never say a word in complaint but he knows something is up when the granite doesn’t sparkle. I said–I FINISHED MY BOOK TODAY. Then he got it. (And he even cleaned the kitchen up!)

What do you do, bare minimum, when you’re stressed and manic and you just do the things you HAVE to do mentally to tolerate your house? Don’t tell me I’m the only one who has x and y that they can live with when the rest of the alphabet isn’t done! :shock:

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Cade Brock/PAX League Book 3

Which PAX League Agent Belongs In Your Bed?
brought to you by Quizilla

I had a dream night before last about the Romantic Times review for PAX 1. I dreamed I got the best review I’ve ever gotten for a book. I’ve never dreamed about a review before, and in fact, mostly don’t give them much thought–they’re out of my control–and frankly, RT isn’t always nice to me! But in a lot of ways, maybe more personally and emotionally than in reality–I feel as if I’ve staked my career on these PAX books. My heart and soul are in them. They’re the most difficult books I’ve ever written because they required stretching myself in ways I never tried before. I’ve been scared to death the whole time I’ve been writing them.

I’m finishing up PAX 3 this week–and again, as with PAX 1 and PAX 2, I’m shocked I was able to finish it because there were definitely times I wasn’t sure I could. And so, no matter how many times I’ve told myself over the years that reviews don’t matter, the review for PAX 1 did.

Yesterday I emailed Romantic Times Magazine to ask for a sneak peek at the review for THE BEAST WITHIN: PAX League Book 1. (Review appearing in the July issue of RT.)

I’m dreaming with my eyes open now because here’s the review:

“A horrific lab explosion changes Kieran Holt’s life forever. His secret experiment is destroyed and he’s framed for the destruction and the death of his colleague. Branded a traitor, Kieran hides out on a secluded island. Now he must clear his name, recreate the formula and race against time to save his own life. His wife, Paige, finally tracks him down, intending to divorce him, but she learns the truth, and with enemies on their tail, they flee for their lives. Nonstop adventure, emotional dialogue and hot sexual tension make Suzanne McMinn’s The Beast Within (Four and a Half Stars–TOP PICK) an impossible-to-put-down page turner.”

:bananadance: TOP PICK!!!!!!!!!! It’s okay to shoot me now. I’ll die happy!

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This is the last day of school for my three children! The neigh-borhood pool opened this weekend, and I might as well change my address to the poolhouse.

PAX 3 is due in six days and I’m still working on the last chapter. Pray for me. :shock:

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