Hello, friends!

We are past the halfway point of this hellish year. Congratulations to everyone who has made it this far. It’s been an absolute whirlwind.

Here’s how my summer is going.

to create

I’ve gotten back into rereading my historical fiction novel, Entrenched, after some time apart. I just passed the midpoint, so I have a little less than half to go. It’s not even that the novel is particularly long, but I have a bad habit of putting it down and picking it back up inconsistently.

Doing another joint content post next month, so my only blog to share is the wrap-up from June.

I didn’t post any videos about writing this month, but I did add a vlog to my personal channel of the trip I took to Tennessee with my partner and her family. More details will be below, but enjoy the video!

to work

I struck up a fun balance of freelance writing and delivering for Uber Eats. Writing will always be my favorite job, but toodling around and catching up on podcasts is nice, too. Plus the money is pretty solid. Not bad for in between jobs during a pandemic.

to live

July 4

This year, I acknowledged the 4th of July a little differently. It feels like we don’t have a lot to celebrate these days, particularly with our incompetent government and militarized police force. On the 4th, I wore my Captain America shirt to demonstrate what America means to me: fighting for justice for all, even when we are met by the resistance of our oppressors (remember, Cap became a wanted fugitive for seeking to do what’s right). I don’t really feel like celebrating an Independence Day that did not free women or people of color. I don’t really see the point in lighting fireworks off in the “land of the free” when protesters exercising their first amendment right get teargassed. So instead, I used the day as an excuse to continue advocating for justice (by signing petitions, sharing links, etc.) and to sing karaoke with Ray’s grandma.

July 13-19: Roadtrip!

The main event of July was our week-long trip to Tennessee. Ray and I took a roadtrip with her mom and sister (along with our excessive amount of dogs) and stayed in Nashville for a few days. We spent a day exploring the downtown art scene, a day in the Centennial and Bicentennial Parks (including the Parthenon), and even popped into Kentucky to tour the Mammoth Cave National Park. On our way back, Ray and I stopped in Knoxville to visit our friend, India, and meet her adorable borzoi, Birch!

To protect ourselves and others, we kept almost exclusively to the outdoors and wore masks/practiced social distancing anytime we went inside anywhere. With Ray starting back at work in the school system in mid-July, this was our last chance to get out and do something for the summer. It was a wonderful change of pace, complete with beautiful sights and fun memories.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!