I hit a milestone in the current manuscript of 40 thousand words. No matter how many drafts I do, something about hitting that many words is a magical feeling.

This past week I've been thinking a lot about inspiration and where the ideas come from. So many times other mediums outside the written word. The nexus of an idea may come from the line in a song, a story from the forgotten pages of history, or an image.

Europeana always has images full of rich colors, images across the years, as it's pulled from the collections across Europe. My Spotify is full of playlists containing music across genres, always looking for that next idea.

I love how experiences can all pull together and find its way out into my stories. Reading, learning, exploring all shape the perspective and just lead to more ideas.

Have a great weekend!

Not quite of course, but the book is in to the editor. I officially just have to wait until her edits are done. At least with that draft. I can always tell when I am done with a story, when I start getting excited by new ideas for the sequel and outside the box ideas. It's times like these, right before I decide what project to start, I really do wish I can do this writing gig full time.

Still do what you can. I hope it's a happy Thursday for you! Here is a picture of some street art I saw in the West Loop last week to tide  you over.

Have a great weekend!

Chicago is currently 60 odd degrees and that is starting to feel cold enough to fall to indulge in light jackets while porch sitting. This morning, I went to the Maiden Voyage Cafe that is my neighborhood. I love their food! I usually get the Nihilist, which I always mispronounce, for breakfast (pictured) and gobble it down. They always serve it on the long rectangle plate and at least one brussel sprout or potato  will get knocked off the plate. My beta readers (aka family, thanks family!) got their notes back to me on my current draft so I wanted to go through everything. The past few months have gone by so quickly that I wanted to get a move on so I don't have to scramble getting it to my editor on the agreed date of October 1.

I got to cross a few more places off my travel list this week as the day job took me to New York City. I didn't get to see much more then what I could see out a cab window but that was enough for Brooklyn Bridge and signs for Time Square. Crazy to me how different a city can be in look and feel. Coming back my direct flight to Chicago was cancelled, so I got to experience the wonders of the Houston (Hobby) airport.

Stay safe, drink water, and I wish you better travel luck then I had this week!