Thanks to the big thunderstorms that hit DC on Sunday afternoon, we were without power for 30 hours, along with 299,999 of our neighbors.

You know what? It was kind of nice.

Not all of it, of course. It wasn't nice sleeping without the AC. I hated throwing away the melted carton of brand-new ice cream, and the sad squishy popsicles.

But being forced to slow down, to live without the constant in-your-face option of TV, video games, video chats, twitter chats, e-mail marathon sessions... that was pretty great. We read lots of books out loud, and made art with Little Dude. He loved the undivided attention, I think, even though he did cast wistful glances at the basement and its silenced Wii.

I loved feeling more connected to our neighborhood, too, thanks to our open windows. Living in DC, you either have your windows closed because it's muggy and the AC is running... or you have them closed because it's cold enough that you need heat. Then you just get out of the habit of opening the windows, for those few glorious times when the weather is perfect enough to welcome it in your house.

During the power outage, though, we opened each and every window. When Little Dude was in bed, we sat in our dark living room and just listened. We heard the whistle of a train a few miles away. We heard people walking down our street and softly laughing. We heard crickets and the rustle of animals in the bushes and our little urban meadow. We heard what each other had to say, too--because there was nothing to distract us from fully listening. I could feel my brain slowing down. All of my stresses didn't seem so important anymore.

When the power came back on at 9:00 last night, the entire neighborhood cheered. You could hear shouts coming from several streets away. And then... the AC kicked on. We ran around the house and slammed the windows shut. We locked them, too, sealing away most every outside sound.

If anyone was cheering, still, we couldn't hear it. We pretty much couldn't hear our neighborhood at all.

This makes me think about how important it is for writers, and other creative people, to keep our "windows" open... and to be still, and silent enough, to hear everything that's going on outside. It's so easy to seal yourself into your daily life, and not notice all the fascinating things on the fringe, waiting to become part of a story. Even if you can only do it once and awhile, it's worth sitting still, opening your mind, and waiting to see what you notice.

Who knows? Maybe other real-live-Candors are lurking out there too...

Last weekend, we took a trip to the upstate NY books that inspired the setting for DROUGHT, my upcoming book. Keep your eyes on this space for announcements soon about DROUGHT. Until then, here are a few pictures to give you a glimpse into the world of Ruby, Ford, and the cruel Darwin West...

water streaming down a dirt road

a dirt road to nowhere... or anywhere, so long as it's away

cabins deep in the woods, overlooking a lake

If there is one thing I want to pass on to our son, it's a love of reading. I don't care WHAT he's reading--I just want books to be the joy and comfort that they have always been to me. 

A key strategy in my Mama Mission: Books On The Pillow takes effect every time we are out of town. Each night, if Little Dude has been good that day (and so far, I have not judged any infraction so severe as to cancel Books On The Pillow for a night), he finds a new book on his pillow after he's brushed his teeth--and that is what we read for his bedtime story. I just picked up some books for an August vacation. There's Captain Underpants (up until now, unknown by him... yes, I am THAT brave a mother!), Curious George before he grows out of the monkey, two Toon Books (LOVE their early reader graphic novels), and some non-fiction about baseball heroes. And of course I'm throwing in a Star Wars book. I won't let him watch the movie but the kid could probably recite the plot of all 6 movies from the DK books that he devours. 

When we recently visited my family's cabin, he got a new Mo Willems early reader book (there it is on his pillow, in the photo!) and another Curious George book. He has a sort of "security book" tucked under that pillow too, one that he says helps him fall asleep if he holds it. IN THE TOWN ALL YEAR 'ROUND has logged a lot of miles in our suitcase. Too bad he didn't get attached to a little paperback book!

Little Dude LOVES getting a new book on his pillow each night. I think it makes him proud--that he's earned it--but he also simply loves the surprise factor. And I love having any excuse to buy a new book, as well as the chance to read something NEW for a change. Not that I don't love CHAMPIONS ON THE BENCH and SHARK VS. TRAIN but seriously, I need something new in my life. They've both been in heavy rotation in our house and they will not be coming on vacation with us! All new books... ahhhhh. Kid who relishes reading...MAMA MISSION TRIUMPH!

The last few months have been consumed with rewriting and revising my next novel for Egmont USA.

For the first part of the process, I pushed the timeline of the story baaaaaack and wrote a big batch of new chapters. My goal was to finish that writing before I went to Kindling Words West (aka KWW), a wonderful retreat for published children's book writers and illustrators. I made that deadline with just a few days to spare.

To celebrate, I painted our bathroom. I'm not very good at downtime. 

Then I printed out the entire manuscript and brought my "brick", as I dubbed it, to KWW. It was nearly a ream of paper! The retreat was the perfect place to immerse myself in revisions and nothing but revisions--well, plus a fair share of chatting with other writers and illustrators... and definitely stopping for three amazing meals each day! I could probably devote an entire blog entry just to the food that the Mabel Dodge Luhan House serves to KWW attendees, but I will spare you. Let me just say I'm still missing the goat cheese/tomato egg pie on cornmeal crust. And the chocolate mousse. And... sorry. In another life, I probably was a food writer. In this life I merely eat with unbounded enthusiasm.

I worked my way through the brick, marking my daily progress with a blue ribbon that steadily moved down the stack. By the end of the week, the blue ribbon was tied in a neat bow to the rubber bands that bound the manuscript. I was, quite stunningly, done. To celebrate, I boogied to Lady Gaga's "Let's Dance" with two other KWW attendees. They even indulged me with badly choreographed hip-bumps. Sorry if you're still bruised, ladies.

I was done--except for entering all my hand-entered changes (many of them big changes) into the manuscript on my computer. I was done--except for writing three new chapters, and going back to finish a few pages of "to dos" that I jotted down while revising on paper. Some things, like changing a character's name, are most easily done in electronic format.

Then, finally, I e-mailed my manuscript to my editor. Truly I was done.

At least until she's finished reading it!

Gee, that other bathroom's walls are looking awfully white...