Back in the Saddle Again

I'm back!  Hope you missed me, because I missed you.  Let me tell you, there's nothing like a week at a beautiful resort to beat all your problems into submission.  WHIPPP-SSHH!

Sure it's an illusion, but it gave me the frame of mind to at least figure out how to approach the various courses of crap on my plate.  Getting up the guts to polish and query my ms is one of them.  As far as that goes, this trip was absolutely inspirational, but more on that in a minute.

First, I'd like to thank those of you who recommended Divergent (review to follow, most definitely qualifies for Amazing Book Alert) as one of my beach reads.  Divergent and I had a helluva time together in Mexico.   Here we are, chillin' by the pool:



I am soaked, smeared with sunscreen, and not wearing makeup.
But doesn't Divergent look fabulous?





Between the hot Mexican sun and that burning fireball on the cover, Divergent needed a little chill time.  No problema, when there's a nice, shady swing on the balcony of your hotel room:

 *Snickers* Yeah, I'm crazy, I know.  But did you also know that YA isn't just the bomb of all book genres?  It also happens to be...

A seriously potent mosquito repellent!  And it's a darn good thing, because it spared me from being eaten alive when I took the video I'm about to post.

The very first scene in my novel describes moonlight shimmering off the ocean, and seeing it in person, I couldn't take my eyes off it.  It made me fall in love with the beach, and my story, all over again (which I needed, because the doubt demon has been flying over my head like a rabid bat lately). 

A picture wouldn't have done it justice, so I took this to share with all of you:

Um, try to ignore the part where I nearly drop the camera

Seriously, how can you not find inspiration in THAT?

Or, for that matter, this...

Or this, especially when you've described your male mc's eyes as "blue as a cloudless sky"...

Imagine that sky with pupils and long, dark eyelashes.  Yeah, I'm swooning too.  Which made me think of the kiss my characters share on the beach, which made me con my husband into this reinactment of it:

Um, except Michael isn't shirtless in my novel (though THERE'S a thought), and my husband will KILL ME if he finds out I posted this.  So don't tell him, 'kay?

In the mean time, I'll be using my rested relaxedness to stop being such a chicken, saddle up, and write like the wind! 

Have you ever had a moment (or a week) that made you fall in love with something you'd written all over again?  Whether the answer is yes or no- have an inspired Monday, all!

** And BTW, my Monday just got even better!  I placed 2nd in Gabriela Lessa's Love All Year Long Contest!  WOOOHOOO! **