Random Stuff

It’s a free-for-all this week here in the round pen, so I’m pretty much going to ramble, which is, more or less, the state of my life right now.

Updates are that I’m a hair from finishing Book 3 in the Four Irish Brothers Winery series for Tule Publishing. Aidan’s story has touched me more than the first two, which sorta surprised me because he was the hardest of the brothers for me to develop. But, he’s turned out to be adorable and once again, I’m in love with one of my own characters. Holly, the heroine of this book, is a little different—not as confident as Samantha and Meg, plus she’s dealing with some trust issues that make her particularly vulnerable. I’m anxious to see what my editor thinks of this one—it’s been an experience writing it.

Book 4 is brewing and I’ve got notes going for it. I think it’s just going to be plain fun because Brendan Flaherty is just a little geeky and I do love my nerds and geeks.

We’re still looking for a house—and I have to confess, I didn’t think it would be this hard to find a new place to live. Well, it is hard. I’m grateful for our lake cottage—being here is what’s keeping me sane as we do this house hunt. That and my dear kids, who are charming and gracious in letting us camp out in their basement when we’re in the city, if you can call a luxurious guest suite complete with a wet bar “camping out.”

One of my favorite things about living mostly full-time at the lake is that I’m close enough to Liz to meet up frequently for writing days. Those extra days together this summer have gotten me through the writing of Aidan’s story. Our biannual (that’s occurring twice a year, right?) writing trip is coming up and I’m champing at the bit to go. We’re headed to Michigan again and we always have a blast. We’ll most likely blog the trip, either here or over on my blog at www.nanreinhardt.com, so plan to tag along, okay?

Another thing I love about the lake is the swimming. Lake buddy, Moe, and I swim at least three times a week, sometimes more often. The lake has been unusually clear and lovely this summer, so the swimming has been fantastic, and it’s a grand way to unwind after a hard day of writing and editing. We generally swim out to the center of our bay, which is the biggest bay on the lake, and tread with both our arms and our legs for at least an hour or so. It’s a good workout and if the current is strong, it’s even more of a workout, so we earn our beer at the end of it.

Reading. Well, I’ve been having a hard time focusing enough to read or watch movies or do much of anything except write and do my editing gigs. I’ve started at least ten books this summer that I didn’t get through. I’m blaming my own lack of focus rather than the writers. It’s me, unquestionably. Right now, though, I am reading a fascinating book called A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner—it’s a WWII/present day/ghost story and I’m actually enjoying it. I was supposed to read it last summer for the book club that we have up here at the lake and I never finished it, nor was I able to attend the meeting where we discussed it. I wish I had because, now, I’d love to talk about it.

I think I’ve rambled on long enough…I’d love to catch up with you all. Leave a comment and tell me what you’ve been up to this summer so far. Inquiring minds want to know...

~Nan~