It's been a good start to the summer on multiple fronts around here. The weather has been (for the most part) a little cooler than normal, and we've enjoyed doing more outdoor stuff than usual as a result. The girls have been a lot of fun to hang out with, and Megan has done a good job of planning plenty of fun things for them to do. We're even growing a garden. It's been fun.
I've made good progress on ThirtySomewhere, and am pleased with my efforts in culling from all my post-30 journal entries and blog posts about 190 double-spaced pages of solid edited material. It's been fun retracing steps of the past eight years, and I'm newly reminded of just how sovereign God really is and has been in my life, bringing me to where I am now. It's been an enjoyable exercise.
The next step in the process is taking the material and sorting it out into one of the twelve already-outlined chapters, seeing what fits and makes sense, and then knitting it together with transitions and necessary new material to really flesh out the main ideas. Doug's doing a similar thing on his end, so my hope is that by the time I get back at the end of June, we'll have a much better idea of where the flow is, as well as where the holes are.
I'm hoping to hear back from publishers between now and July, and it would be hugely encouraging to begin this next phase with some kind of contract in hand. Editorially, the publishers I met with last month are all on board with our ideas, but the reality in book publishing is that the sales and marketing guys have the final say - regardless of how great the concept, if they don't think they can sell it, you're done. As frustrating as this is to my idealism, I've come to accept it for what it is and am just hoping for the best that they make us an offer we can't refuse.
I leave tomorrow for two weeks as part of Westminster's Summer Seminar in South Dakota and, while I hate the thought of giving up the rest of June, at least it's for a great reason. Five other staff and I are taking 22 soon-to-be seniors on what is becoming, according to senior essays of the past, one of the most significant experiences of a WCA student's high school career, and I'm glad to be part of it. I'm also much more prepared mentally and physically and have had a lot more of the kids in class, so I'm looking forward to the journey (for reflections on last year's trip - with pics! - click here and here).
Of course, the hardest part about a trip like this is being away from Megan and the girls for so long, but Megan has strategically enrolled them in some day camps the next two weeks, and my folks are helping out with some multiple-night overnights on the farm, so all should be well. It doesn't make being away any easier for me (I deal with incredible self-induced guilt even for a night), but hopefully the girls won't notice quite as much as they'll be happily occupied.
So, that's the latest. Thanks for checking in here periodically, as well as for being patient with me as I focus on some other, more delayed gratification kind of writing this summer. I may post a few things here and there from what Doug and I are coming up with next month, but we'll see how things go. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of June and I'll catch you in July.
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