The Summer Holidays are nearly over!

I write this as the school summer holidays in England come to grinding end. Anyone living near me must surely hear the loud shouts of joy and see the party balloons floating with vigour from my door.

Yes! The boys are back at school in just over a week--FREEDOM!!!!

When they go back to school, I can start to get back to my normal schedule. It's not an exciting schedule, far from it--I work Monday through to Wednesday, 3 days of crunching numbers and playing with budgets and forecasts and cashflows (As well as ringing up those nasty people that don't pay) BUT, and here's the great part, I have Thursday and Friday to write! I've condensed my hours starting September 1st to enable me to work the above pattern, and boy, am I looking forward to it.

Also, my husband has, at long last, acknowledged that I write, that it's not an obsessive hobby eating up all my time. I am to be published, and with that comes a renewed confidence in my ability and a level of acceptance from my husband that this is serious, this is something that can lead to so much more. He still hates that I randomly mumble about my characters to him, stressing over impossible situations I've written them into, he still tells me to switch the laptop off and have a night away from it all. But, I've also heard him talking about my writing--something he never used to do. He proudly tells his friends that I'm going to be published, talking great pride in letting me know he's told them to check out my website, and that he's made another sale of my forthcoming book--I haven't the heart to tell him that just because people say they'll check my website means they will, and it certainly doesn't mean they'll buy my book. But I keep quiet, let him enjoy this moment--I've waited a long time for him to show any signs of encouragement, I won't burst his bubble.

So, with the boys back at school, my new schedule will start. Two dedicated days a week to write! It sounds like bliss. Then I remember. Deadlines, edits, drafts, CP's. Maybe I need more than two days. I'm about to start line edits with my editor on 'Shifting Seas', my short story which will be published in an anthology later this year. I'm currently finishing structural edits on 'Sachael Dreams', due to start  line edits this October. I'm still working through my first 'hard' edit on 'Sachael Desires', meeting with my CP, Denise, every Thursday night to go through one chapter at a time. After that I have a serious amount of editing to tighten it up and get it ready to send out. (And I've given myself a deadline of the end of the year to have this done.) Yes, all while dealing with the release of 'Sachael Dreams'. Not only that, I need to start working through 'Sachael Delusions', the next book, with Denise. Scheduling one chapter a week means it takes a long time to get through thirty chapters! I also need to write the final book in the series, 'Sachael Destiny', and at this moment, it's all a little scary.

And then there's Erebus. Damn the man. My next project, after the Mine Series, is 'The Ascent', a story in which Erebus features rather a lot. He will not stop talking to me! So amongst all the Sachael books, I keep scribbling down notes, paragraphs and ideas for this book. It's nice to have an exciting idea waiting to attack when I'm ready, but it's also frustrating.

But, I shall get there. I've got more time to write, I have the support of my husband, and the boys are back at school. Here's to a new school year and no more long holidays until next summer!

Melody xxx