Summer winding down...

It's still plenty hot here in California, likely to stay that way well past Halloween, but the kids are all back in school which my niece thinks is a plot to get parents to have to buy a whole new "decent" summer wardrobe for the hot weather and then a clothes for the cooler times ahead.  I love summer and I'm a heat fan but there's something so appealing about getting up on an autumn morning, making coffee and sitting at my desk to work, wrapped in the shawl my old friend knitted for me. Halloween...Thanksgiving. They're just around the corner and I know this must be true because every store I have been in lately has the displays to prove it. 

But I want more summer first. The calendar gives us until late September, and I refuse to dip into autumn with its colorful foliage and pumpkin spice everything so soon!  I still want coconut suntan lotion and bare feet,  hair tied up in a braid to keep it off my neck...and a bit of complaining that it's hot out while I really am loving it.

When I was a child, my grandmother always took the month of August off for vacation and we went to the beach every day. She was the only granny of eighty or so in a two piece bathing suit and my aunt would buy us comic books and hamburgers from "Honest John" a former wrestler turned beach snack shack owner.  I bet you have some great summer memories, too, and I 'd love to hear them. It's such a magic time for children and sometimes even for adults. I learned that from my former-flapper, wildwoman of a grandma. Every season has its special moments and most of them are with family. So I guess the season matters less than who we spend them with.

Going Live Everywhere about now...

One of the best things about being part of the author community is the opportunity to use our skills to give back. Somewhere Out There is a collection put together by over 125 professionals of all kinds in the book world. Authors, editors, artists, assistants...a publisher. And 100 percent of profits will go to help keep families together.  Because that's the most important thing, families. If you're so inclined to pick up a copy, we'd be most grateful.