IWSG: Goodbye Summer

Hello and Happy September! Today is the day for the monthly meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group, founded by our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. To view list members and this month's co-hosts, visit the IWSG page here.

I know I'm in a small minority, but I'm always so happy to see summer come to a close. I think I have some kind of reverse seasonal affective disorder, as I tend to become depressed and sluggish every year when summer rolls around. I wanted this year to be different, and had a good start in June, but by July my regular pattern had emerged.

In spite of that, there were some bright spots to the summer so I thought I'd focus on the positives.

1. I finished my 5k running program! In fact, running was the one thing I felt great about all summer. I can't believe it, but I now look forward to my runs and I feel out of sorts when I miss one. I'm focusing on increasing my distance and endurance now. I've made it to four miles and am working on getting to five. 
2. I participated in the August Write... Edit... Publish... bloghop and had a great experience with my story The Last Reunion. I had hit a brick wall while working on revisions for my new Alaska story and was feeling frustrated, so it was energizing and fun to write something totally different. I am now looking forward to the October hop and thinking about ideas for the Dark Places theme. 
3. Game of Thrones! My favorite show. EVER. 
4. Reading. I read some great books this summer, including one that instantly became one of my all-time favorites. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is an extraordinary read. 

A window box in Paris

Best of all, in the past week or so I've been inspired to start working on a new/old book idea - a short story collection called A Window Box in Paris. I first started thinking about this collection after visiting Paris in 2016, but my ideas were all vague and unorganized. I don't know what happened, but last week when I had trouble falling asleep I started thinking about the ideas again and they all started to crystallize and come together. I'm now making notes and working on characters, and I'm super excited to get started on the project. 

I'm struggling with the usual insecurities that come with working on something new and worrying that the ideas will amount to nothing, but I'm determined to push through those doubts and worries. My goal is to have a first draft completed by the end of the year. 

What are your goals or plans for the rest of 2017?