Commencing third draft. . .

Whew. In the aftermath of sending in my second draft, I set off on a whirlwind of summer activities and spending time with friends and family. But now I have my edits in hand and it's time to get back to work! The manuscript arrived yesterday, covered in notes as usual. Now, third draft, here I come. [Shudder.] I am so ready to write a new book!

[By the way, big thanks to Lexi, Heather, and Amber, who come in #2, 3, and 4 respectively in the Silksinger readathon. Thank you ladies!!!]

This week I have scarcely set foot in my own home, it seems. My sister was in town from California, and now my niece is here too. Here are we four Taylor women having Thai food at Pok Pok:

Yesterday, my mom and I took Isabella (we call her Izzy, she calls herself Bella) to get some fun colored hair extensions (like my yellows) for the summer. She got to choose her color:
I really thought she was going to go for the aqua blue, but she didn't. She chose. . .
Hot pink! (Why, I ask, would anyone want pink hair???) It looks so cute. It's so fun -- why doesn't everybody have a few streaks of blue or purple or pink in their hair? Why?

Strolled around a little on Mississippi, went into Flutter, which always feels like a fun photo safari. You never know what you're going to find. Weird, altered prom dresses (one had a patch on the front that said EAT), stuffed foxes and iguanas, singing birds, gas masks. . .



And the day wasn't over! Yet to come was dinner with two wonderful bloggers, tiny noises and Frida. "Tiny noises" lives here in Portland, and "Frida" has been visiting from New Zealand. Jim and I had a wonderful time eating Mexican food with them and their boys:


And so, thus ends my social summer interlude. Now it is me in my writing room once again, with a new stack of manuscript beside me. Deep breath. . .