Now that summer is over—well, officially over tomorrow with the autumnal equinox—I am returning to this blog. I did not expect my summer to be so busy that I wouldn’t have time to write, and looking back, I can’t see that I was, in fact, that busy. But there were a family wedding and a family reunion and a family medical emergency (that ended well, thank goodness). A summer writing class that I taught ran for four weeks, and I worked on my own book as well. There was editorial work from long-established clients and new clients. I visited New York City, which included meeting one of those new clients and spending a day with a good friend, who also was my first employer in publishing, and then my first agent.

I guess I was busy.

That does not mean I haven’t been thinking ahead to the fall and all I hope to get done in the coming months. My two writing classes begin next week, and I am already working on material to present at those. I will be posting soon about an expansion to my editorial business via collaboration with Piscataqua Press in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Next week I meet with my website designer to discuss how we can help our respective clients better market their books—information and ideas that I will explore in this blog. And I have an idea for a book for writers…

All this, plus getting back to work on my book. While in New York, I did some location research for that book, checking out buildings where I wanted to site a character’s apartment, plus getting a feel for the city again. (I hadn’t been back in ten years.) My book is set in December, not late summer, so I’ll have to dig into my memory banks for how the city feels in the winter: the cold wind rushing down the canyons created by skyscrapers lining the avenues, the lakes of dirty slush that expand at intersections, the silence of the city the morning after a heavy snowfall.

One other thing about my visit that I’ll share. One of my favorite places to go in the city is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My friend, my brother, and I went on a gorgeous day, and we visited the roof garden of the museum first, where there are different art installations. The current feature is called Psychobarn and was my favorite exhibit. Watch the video—it’s great. Art and inspiration are everywhere!