Linda Nelson

I am closing in on writing the last part of my teen romance, Along Came Neil. These waters are murky. I know that there are a lot of review sharks swimming in the waters off the coast of released self-published books. Am I scared?

Well, yes.

First off I was never comfortable with writing a romance novel. These are uncharted waters for me. Romance is not a genre I tend to seek out to read. My genre of choice is fantasy, you know, like the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Swords of Shannara, that sort of fantasy. They are the type of story that is all about the plot and not about character.

Though, since I have been writing Teen Contemporary I have learned that these type of stories are much better with more character development and what better way to help add character development than to add the element of romance to the story.

Even if there are sharks in the waters I am swimming in I will not let them get to me. I will build a giant cage to hide inside and hope for the best.

They say if you think your book is great then it isn’t as good as you think it should be. But if you think it is not your best then it has to be somewhat good.

So this weekend I will take a couple more plunges toward the bottom of this manuscript and hopefully I won’t get too scared to finish this thing.

Every time I have gone on a cross-country trip it has been by car. It is not that I am thinking about taking a trip in the near future but if I did have the chance I think I would like to try a different means of travel.

Going by train would be nice, that is, if I wasn’t in a hurry to get somewhere. I have always liked riding on trains. The last time I rode one was almost five years ago when we took the train out of Fitchburg, Ma.

We took it into Boston when we visited the New England Aquarium and Quincy Market. That trip also had a first for me too. I got to ride the subway. It was very different. I didn’t mind it but I wouldn’t want to have to do it every day.

My bus trips have been very short. They were mostly the ones you take on field trips for school or company outings. They weren’t anything spectacular like driving across several states in a site seeing bus.

I have never been on an airplane. Would I if I needed to? I probably would, and I would be kind of nervous too.

But if I was out for a great adventure I think I would love to try a go at a Hot Air Balloon. They are open and airy. Plus I have always been fond of balloons, especially those great big ones you see over head during the summer time.

Our hopes for this summer is to make it out to the coastline – say Hampton Beach or such and Mike is going to show me how to surf cast. It sounds like a lot of fun. I would love to see him catch a big fish, something bigger than a rainbow trout. I’ve caught plenty of those in the past.

Maybe in a year or two I will have the chance to go to the RWA Nationals. That would be fun. I hear they will be in California next year. That means I would have to fly.

We’ll see how things go in the coming year. If I can afford it then it might turn out to be my first real summer vacation in years.

Are you planning a trip this summer? If so, where to? I would love to hear what your summer vacation plans are.