Pushing Through Summer

Hi, everyone! My name's Lindsay, and I'm so excited to be joining the team here at Tangled Up in Words. This summer, I met Danielle and Patricia through a local writers' . . . group? Drinking club? Coping mechanism? here in Washington, DC, and instantly clicked with them. What a fabulous bunch!

In fact, I've been really pushing out of my comfort zone this summer to meet other writers and readers, instead of holing up in my dog hair-filled urban cabin, banging away on a manifesto without eating or bathing (and possibly wearing plaid). While I love living in the city, and I ADORE talking about reading and writing, I'm very shy by nature. I've found such great friends--and so many awesome books--through this experience, though, that I'm kind of embarrassed not to have done it sooner.

And it's a good thing I'm getting over my social anxiety, because my life is about to turn into a psychotic blitz and self-promotion and marketing, because . . .

This summer, I sold my first book!! SEKRET, a YA historical thriller, sold to Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan Children's, and is due out in early 2014. Enough time that I'm not yet hyperventilating, but I'm sure it'll be here all too soon.

Appropriately enough, then, that my summer has been one of keeping calm and carrying on despite the good--but scary!--but good! things happening. Happy hours, sure, I can lock my anxiety in the vault long enough to make some amazing friendships. I'm getting published, big deal, I'll just keep putting one word in front of the other in my new manuscript(s) . . . (s). (Wasn't kidding about the unhygienic manifesto factory I sometimes become.)

How are you pushing yourself this summer, in writing and in general life?