The Peak of Summer

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: If August is the top of the ferris wheel of summer, this week is the very tip, the moment before the wheel begins to fall back to earth. It's the arc of a baseball just before it descends into the waiting glove, the three-scoops cone about to start dripping onto your hand - but not yet, not yet.

For those of us in the civilized regions of the country, it's still two weeks before the school buses call us all to duty - three before Labor Day puts the final coda on the summer of '18. Its the perfect time to assess what you've done and, more importantly, what you want to do before the first cool breezes of September start to blow.

For me, I've done more traveling than I planned this summer, some celebratory (being there for the Jungle Reds appearance at Brookline Booksmith) some fun (time with extended family in the mountains of Vermont) and some sad (My mother's death and funeral.) I've cooked less than in previous years, giving away a lot of my wonderful CSA produce. I've read more, however, and had many lovely lunches and dinners with friends.

What's left on my summer bucket list? More open-faced tomato sandwiches. Fresh-picked corn from the local farmstand. The last concert of the Portland Chamber Music Festival, this coming Saturday. I went to this past Saturday's performance and it was amazing! So I'm very much looking forward to the evening.

We usually see several Shakespearean plays each summer, but with the sad demise of Maine Shakespeare, its been more difficult this year. Instead, Youngest and the Smithie and I are going to see a family favorite, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, at the Lakewood Theater on the shores of Wessenrunsett Lake in north-central Maine. 

The big event for me isn't very summery - it will be moving Youngest into her dorm at the University of Maine (Orono) at the end of the month. So I guess I'm looking forward to lots of runs to Target and Bed Bath & Beyond to buy dorm stuff.

Afterwards, however, one of my bffs and I will celebrate with our annual visit to Old Orchard Beach, Maine's largest white-sand sea shore. When our kids were little, we would park our butts in our chairs and watch them run in and out of the surf. This time around, instead of packing  a picnic for seven, we'll have grown-up snacks and Mojitos - made from Lucy's recipe, of course! - in the cooler.

How about you, Reds? What are you trying to get done on these last days of summer? 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ah, ah, ah. I have to write five million blogs and articles about Trust Me. Do seventy five billion interviews about Trust Me. FINISH A WHOLE NEW BOOK. Plan a launch party, confirm a book tour, have the launch party (you're invited! August 28 at Brookline Booksmith!)  Keep up on social media. Sleep, see my husband, remember to go outside, remember to do laundry, think every single solitary minute about whether people will love TRUST ME. 

It got a starred review from Booklist, YAY! Which called it "A knockout." So, that's good. And Library Journal says: It's sure to be a late-summer hit! So, yay.
So no lazy-hazy says for me. Just crazy! But TRUST ME, wonderful. Now, back to writing A WHOLE NEW BOOK!

JULIA: Okay, so we're crossing you off the "Lazy haze of summer" list and putting you on the "New York Times Bestseller" list.

INGRID THOFT: Where did the summer go?  I feel so old saying that, but it’s true.  I feel like I’m just getting in the summer groove, only to have it end in a few weeks.  So what are my plans for the remaining days?  I have a lot of writing to do, particularly because September is full of travel, which always translates into less productivity.  I have some niggling errands to run: the cobblers for a pair of shoes, the tailor for the lining of a purse that has become a black hole, and Goodwill to donate various items that need a new home.  We also have some events on the social calendar including a cookout we’re hosting on the 39th floor roof deck of our building, and a Tuscan-themed dinner our friends are cooking.  There aren’t many weeks left, but there’s a lot to look forward to!

JULIA: I have to mention that August has been very good to Ingrid so far - her novel DUPLICITY is a finalist in the fiction category of the Washington State Book Awards!

LUCY BURDETTE: I knew the summer would be hectic and it certainly has been! Book launched, family hosted, friends seen, family reunion, golf played, and of course you know about losing my precious Tonka. All that said, there is more good stuff I need to cram in. We have a dear niece coming to CT with her little kids--will want to see plenty of her. I have a number of events still planned--are you near CT? Hope to see you at one of them. Our garden is bursting so I'm *hoping* to get some pickles made etc. And I want to play more golf because I'm playing well for the first time in several years and it's so much fun when that happens. And reading--I want to read and read and read! Rhys's new book and Hank's and Jenn's, just to name a few. Oh, and write a little too???

HALLIE EPHRON: Summer has been super hectic for me, too. I've been at Yale teaching at their annual summer writing conference, in Oregon teaching at Willamette Writer, in Sacramento giving a writing workshop for their Sisters in Crime chapter, and just back from NYC presenting at the Writer's Digest NYC Conference. I love my life!  In NY I got to see my kids and 2 grandbabies who live in Brooklyn. 

THREE more weeks of summer and I plan to enjoy doing nothing. I have some writing to do, but mostly I shall eat lobster (they're so cheap this year), eat local peaches, take walks, slow down and sit out in my backyard. And I have Rhys's FOUR FUNERALS AND MAYBE A WEDDING and Lucy's DEATH ON THE MENU to read, so life is good.

JULIA: Yes! They're on my nightstand right now!


JENN MCKINLAY: The Hooligans go back to school during the first week of August (no idea why they do that in AZ - we all hate it) so summer is pretty much over for us. Wah! Now it's school, homework, activities, go, go, go. *Sob*

JULIA: That is just wrong, Jenn. So very wrong.
 
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Only three more weeks??? I would say, YAY, only three more weeks, if I didn't have so much writing to do. We are so over summer here. We always are here in Texas by August, but after our record-breaking heat in July we are just dreaming about cooler weather. The bucket garden is pretty shriveled, although we may get some fall tomatoes. We certainly didn't get any summer ones--it was too hot. We did have a good peach season but that's finished as of this last weekend. I'm just back from my one August trip/event, so nothing on the calendar for me except writing until Bouchercon! 

JULIA: How about you, dear readers? What are your plans for the last days of summer?