School’s Out

 

School’s out, even for us. No classes to drive to, no clubs to get home early for and no lessons to plan and print out. You’d think it would give me ample time to write, read and publish, but sadly, somehow, my days run out of hours just as much!

My children struggle with unstructured time, and as they get older, this shows in different but equally tricky ways. So I’m still planning, plotting and printing. It’s where English comes in handy. It might be a lesson that I’m printing, but as I promised my kids they would have summer holidays as well, so no schoolwork, I can’t call it a lesson, can I? It can be a game, an activity, a puzzle, something to try out...

The weather isn’t helping either. It’s raining one minute, which means my writing trick of putting my laptop in a cardboard box set on the garden table isn’t working. The next moment, the sun is out, boiling my laptop on my desk. Maybe I should put the cardboard box on my desk...

I have made a little progress, as I suddenly realised why I had been stalling on my story. The characters weren’t suffering enough! I did some extra research and realised how one of them is going to have a very hard time. Not being a strong character, he’s probably going to crumble even more, getting sympathy from one girl and earning disrespect from the other... It made me feel a lot better about the story. Amazing what suffering can do!

Always bring a notebook on holidays. Or two, for the just-in-case moments.

I’m also looking forward to the conference in Cambridge, the British Christian Writers Conference at the beginning of September. I realised that I would only have come back from holidays mere days before I will be sharing about Self Publishing. Feeling extremely pleased, I can tell you I have started to prepare my talk already, weeks ahead of schedule! I’m looking forward to hearing the other speakers as well, as it’s been such a blessing the last few times I have been.

I love writers’ conferences and days, as they’re so inspiring. I love meeting other authors, as the ways people have arrived at this moment in time are fascinating. People inspire and encourage me, and it gives me new resolve to sit and write as well as read all the books mentioned. That reminds me to see if there are some more free bookshelves around the house, as mine are overflowing. And it’s the holidays, so there might be more charity shop visits in various places, so there could be more books coming in...

We’ll be away on holiday in the North, and I can’t wait. Of course, I will have hours every day to read and write, right? It’s a time to refresh and connect as a family as well, and I have books lined up for that as well. There’s a book for every season and every occasion, and if you can’t find one, write one! Do you have specific holiday plans, or is the summer when writing gets pushed out for a while?

Maressa Mortimer is Dutch but lives in the beautiful Cotswolds, England with her husband and four (adopted) children. Maressa is a homeschool mum as well as a pastor’s wife, so her writing has to be done in the evening when peace and quiet descend on the house once more. She loves writing Christian fiction, as it’s a great way to explore faith in daily life. Because of her interest in writing, Maressa is part of Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion For Writing, an anthology encouraging people to write.

Her debut novel, Sapphire Beach, was published in December 2019, and her first self published novel, Walled City, came out in December 2020, followed by Viking Ferry, a novella. Beyond the Hills is the second book in the Elabi Chronicles, and was released in 2021, followed by stand-alone novel Burrowed, released in 2022. All of Maressa’s books are available from her website, www.vicarioushome.com, Amazon or local bookshops.