Melissa Senate

Happy 4th of July! My dear boy is away for the long weekend at his grandparents' house, so it's just me and the manuscript–the new one, which I'm both loving and being tortured by (which is how writing is, it seems).

This is a particularly wonderful time, when the publication date (November) of my upcoming novel, The Secret of Joy, is still far enough away that I don't have to obsess over it, and I'm in the beginning stages of a NEW novel, which has gotten the green light from both agent and editor! This one is called The Love Goddess's Cooking School and involves an Italian cooking class, the tiniest bit of magic, lots of romance, a needy eleven-year-old, a not-touristy island off the coast of Maine, and a main character hoping to make a few dreams come true, including her own. 

I'm having my own mini 4th of July indoor bar-b-q (I never know how to spell that), complete with hot dogs and potato salad, after I finish this scene. I'm trying to actually write an entire first draft without revising as I go, which is my usual process. The thought of having THAT much work to do on revision seems overwhelming, but it is freeing to just write and not worry so much. And today, freedom is the name of the game. 

HAPPY 4th!