Ahhh ... Vacation ... Just What I Needed

I took a longer-than-usual hiatus during the past two weeks, because I went on vacation. I haven't been out of San Diego (day trips to Los Angeles for work don't count) in two years.

My husband, son and I traveled to Iowa to visit my in-laws and my stepfather's side of the family. We were gone for 10 days and were busy during the week leading up to our vacation shopping, packing and washing clothes in preparation for our trip. All of the stress and anxiety of gearing up to get out of town was worth it for a much-needed break from work and our regular routine.

But while I took a break from my blog, I didn't take a break from reading or writing. I finished reading Stephenie Meyer's "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner," a novella based on one of the newborn vampires who makes a very brief appearance in "Eclipse," Meyer's third book in the four-part "Twilight" series. It gave me a little insight into what was going on behind the scenes while Bella, Edward and Jacob focused on their love triangle and the vampire who was stalking Bella during "Eclipse." I'm sure a lot of writers would love the chance to go back and revisit characters who don't get a lot of play in their novels.

I also made it halfway through "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson. After reading good things for a while about Larsson's recent novels, I was curious, so I picked up his first book. It was a long, slow start, but it got to a point where I had to know where the story was headed. About a third of the way in, the pace finally picked up. I'm more than halfway through now and anxious to get back to reading it tonight.

And while I didn't work during my vacation on the book for which I've written 106 double-spaced pages, I did start writing another story inspired by some of the scenery in Iowa. I've got a chapter and a half written in the journal I carry in my purse. I'm anxious to write more of that story (though I'm not looking forward to typing up my handwritten pages), but I'm also looking forward to getting back to the project I started a month or two ago. With a three-day weekend starting in just two days, I'm hoping to get a lot of writing in this weekend.

So, in addition to catching up with family in Iowa, holding my three new baby nephews, and finding lots of time to relax and hang out with my husband and son, I had a pretty fruitful vacation. I read some good books (and some OK magazines) and I wrote furiously in my journal whenever I had a chance. Life is good.