The kids were off school this past Friday for their spring break, and David took off work so that we could do something as a family. I don’t know what it’s like in your world, but in ours there are times where all the red flags start flying and we realize that we need a “reset” day: just some time together to do something a bit different, something that means we get to hang out together, experiencing something new–and something that, hopefully, will require lots and lots of walking so as to tire the kids out so they sleep in the next day. (It’s all for the kids, I tell you.) So, this past Friday we decided on a road trip to Washington, D.C., with the idea of seeing some dinosaur bones. We drove a couple hours into Maryland from our house in Pennsylvania, then surprised our suburban children with their first Metro ride (those initial moments of the train ride were the most exciting 30 seconds of their day…until they realized that they were going to look at nothing but dark tunnel walls for the next…
I know at this very moment you’re quite concerned about your “summer body” (whatever that is), and vowing to give up all pasta and doughnuts and everything else delicious in life for the next month just so you can fit into your swimsuit without being incredibly conscious of the way your cute little stomach roll flops over the top of your tankini bottom when you crouch down to sit beside the pool. Oh, wait. You don’t do that? I also know that you make mac and cheese “for the kids” and eat all the leftovers in a moment of carb-craving mania while standing over the pot with a wooden spoon in your hand hoping nobody decides she wants seconds. You don’t know me. Look: your stomach’s gonna flop a little. It’s really no big deal. Just eat the pasta already. Pasta’s at least a once-a-week staple in our house, as I’m sure it is in yours, too, occasional pre-summer body anxiety notwithstanding. But here’s the thing: you know as well as I do that the best…
I’m going to be honest with you: Orly Konig is one of my favorite people in my writing world. I met her through our organization, the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, which she helped found as its first president, and I would’ve asked her to be here with Just Five Questions even if she didn’t have a new book coming out early next month I wanted her to talk with you about. Orly is a consistent cheerleader, my unofficial writing life coach (not even kidding), volunteer early reader, and a calm voice in the crazy tumult that sometimes comes with publishing. She’s also a fantastic mom, talented crocheter (is that a word, Orly?), and well-versed in the languages of espresso and red wine (languages I will happily speak with her). After years of pushing the creativity boundary in corporate communications, Orly decided it was time for a new challenge and made the switch to fiction. Now she spends her days chatting up imaginary friends, drinking entirely too much coffee, and negotiating writing space around two over-fed cats. In addition to being the co-founder and past president of WFWA…