What this writer gets up to in summer....

The last day of school arrived. The two biggies were ecstatic - the two littlies thought of nothing else but  Christmas being mere days away. I gazed down the barrel of seven weeks of four smallish people monopolising my every waking moment with their joys and tears and squabbles and hungry bellies.

A couple of weeks before the holidays began my dear writing galpal and I spent a magical three days writing in a borrowed house on the shores of a southern lake. Man, did I write! I achieved more in that weekend than I had on my own projects in the last year! Okay, earthquakes and moving cities and traumatised kids took absolute precedence in 2011 so I can't complain - and won't! But that weekend awakened the dragon!

I began my second novel over that weekend. A story concept that has been jumping in the corner of my mind like demented rabbit finally came roaring to the fore - demanding my attention - claiming 2012 for itself. The first few thousand words gushed from my fingertips and lit my digital page with these fierce, untamable characters, lighting my mind with their entire story, setting fire to my heart and making me want to die for them, to give up everything to get their story told. Sound extreme? Yeah, probably! But sometimes that's the way of a story. It takes hold, digs it's claws into your soul and won't let go. That is the way of my second novel - 'Hope'.

Prepare for the cliche here folks; All good things must come to an end. The writing retreat was over and I was on fire for Hope. I wanted to do nothing but write until the story was done.

BUT

Anyone with four kids (or any kids!) knows what the end of term is like! The end of the year is worse! I mean, wonderfully full of pantomimes, presentations and prizegivings. I love every minute of my children demonstrating their prowess at everything from singing 'She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini' to dancing the magic-mouse dance in a primary school pantomime. The talent, the genius of my brood constantly amazes and excites me and fills me with total and utter self-gratifying satisfaction that I had something to do with their existence, and yet the writer in me spent two weeks scowling, pouting and having the odd tantrum (all deeply buried underneath my smiling and supportive countenance of perfect mother) and waiting begrudgingly for the holiday to just start already!

You see, and you are all quite within your rights to tut-tut me and smile indulgently at my naïvety, I thought that once the holidays began I could get stuck into 'Hope'. HA! I truly believed my children would amuse themselves and just be content with being free to run and roam and read without needing my constant supervision. I thought that as we now live in PARADISE they would simply don Laura Ashley-style clothes and run amok Huckleberry Finn-like about our substantial property with a stream, pond, tree huts and SPACE.No. Oh no, no, no.

Day two: Fighting. Boredom. Whining. Hungry for things that required my input. Too hot. Oh, for the sake of all things Holy!

And then there was the family and friends.

I took a moment, had a long, rather heartbreaking, conversation with the writer within and together we surrendered to the fact that it was Christmas, summer and at the end of a year in which family and friends and ourselves had all been through our own personal hell due to the Earth's niggling and stretching.  Once the surrender took place I opened myself and my heart to the summer season and oh, what joys did come forth into my life!

Hot, dry days after days, family and friends camping in tents on the lawn, swimming in lake and pond, BBQ's galore! Summer, oh how I love thee! Relaxing - really relaxing - on the lakefront beach, nurturing an enviable tan, reading! I read so many books! I decided as I didn't have the concentrated time I desire to write I would do the next best thing - READ! YAY! Boy, did I read!

However, it is now the end of the first week of school - Waitangi Day to be precise - and my fingertips are itching to get back on the keyboard! I love my kids, I have totally and utterly adored spending this summer chilling out with them and my friends and family. Now I am ready for routine. I am ready for plans to come to fruition. I am ready to write.

Roll on Tuesday.