This summer, I had one goal: edit and submit a novel called SMOOTH AS CHOCOLATE.

That probably doesn’t sound like a huge accomplishment given the amount of time I had–a whole summer! But it really was. Granted, when I’m alone, I can get that amount of work done in 2 weeks, but when I’m parenting at the same time with my 6 year old son off of school, it gets a lot harder!

I love spending time with my son, and who doesn’t enjoy summer fun with the kids? But kids demand a lot out of you, and the minute they sense you sitting down or focusing on something other than them, they have a list of requests:

“Can I have a snack?”

“Can I play Wii?”

“Do you know what I dreamed last night?”

“Is Grandma going to die because she’s old?”

“Will we hear things in Heaven?”

“Do you want to hear a joke?” (Warning: his jokes are long, convoluted and start with a chicken and a road…)

All of my writing needs to happen before about 4 pm, because that is when I end up mentally crashing (having bounced out bed at 6). If I haven’t gotten any work done by then, I can just give up because when I finally get some time to myself around 8 pm, my brain refuses to cooperate and I just stare at the page feeling cranky.

So when I tell you that I’ve submitted SMOOTH AS CHOCOLATE to the Harlequin’s Heartwarming line, it’s a big deal. A big, celebratory deal! 😀

Someone suggested I celebrate with chocolate. There is a certain little boy in this home who would agree wholeheartedly!