Dreaming time

Summer is very much dreaming time for me. The heat slurs everything into a haze, and it's too easy to lie in the shade and hope for a breeze and not do much else.

Plus, my kids are off school, and that makes my days very different than when school is in, and they're not here. (I do love them, but I'm thinking MORE CAMP next summer for the youngest.)

And yet for all the lazy, toes-in-the-pool, ice cream-eating moments, summer is sort of frantic at the same time, at least if you live where I do. It's SUMMER! It's pleasant (well, maybe) weather! It must be taken advantage of! And all in a fairly short time frame, so that every time you turn around there's a barbecue or a pool party or a road trip planned.

Before you know it, summer's gone.

I don't mind much -- September has always been my start of the new year, even though it's been a long time since I was in school. There are pencils and notebooks on sale, and sweaters to get out of storage, and cool, crisp days that don't immediately make me want to die crying if I try to walk more than two blocks. Summer has always made me a little too dreamy, and a lot too lazy, and I won't even talk about ice cream consumption.

This September, I'm very lucky to have a book coming out -- the sequel to Cold Kiss, otherwise known as Glass Heart.  And I'm planning things to mark its arrival in stores, online and off. Stay tuned ...