July is a flirt.  She flipped her skirt up at me, promised a wild ride, and then snuck out the back door when I wasn’t looking.  Now it’s August and I’m feeling dazed and not a little exhausted.

Two big things happened in July, both of which were great and neither of which helped my writing a jot.  First, I traveled to Honduras to help get my archaeological field project set up and running.  Second, my husband and I bought and moved into a new apartment – the first home we can truly call our own.  In between, I took a trip to Boston for Readercon.

Amidst all this travel, I did manage to squeeze in a little work, though not as much as I would have liked.

1. I made only wee bits of progress on ABSENT, my archaeological time travel novel.  I’m pretty close to finishing the rough draft, but most of what I accomplished in July was editing.  I took a hard copy of the manuscript to Honduras and marked it up in my spare time.

2. BLOOD RED SUN is still out to market, though I did recently get a partial request from an agent I’d be beyond thrilled to work with.  Even if she passes, I’m happy the query excited her interest.  All of my short stories are waiting on decisions at various magazines.

3. I Beta read a novel for a writing buddy (a real door-stopper at over 120K, but a fun read).

4. I did quite a lot of reading (much of it on my lovely new Nook).  This included “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” by Ranson Riggs, “A Discovery of Witches” by Deborah Harkness, “Hammered” by Kevin Hearne, “Magic Slays” by Ilona Andrews, “The Forever War” by John Haldeman, and “Grave Dance” and “Grave Witch” by Kalayna Price.

All in all, a good month.  August looks to be a little less hectic, but that’s probably just when viewed from afar.  I’ve got a trip to Seattle coming up, in which I plan to do a little research for the dark Urban Fantasy novel I’m working on (I’m tentatively thinking to set it in Port Townsend and Seattle).  I also intend (no, VOW) to finish the rough draft of ABSENT before I leave for Seattle.  That means it will be done by Thursday.  No Matter What.  I’m also facing down quite a bit of course prep, as the new semester begins at the end of the month.

What were your big accomplishments and adventures in July?  What have you got on tap for August?  Do share, dear Reader!