Back in the Summer of '09

The 3 County Fair (Um, Hampshire, that's one... and... and...) is under way, I'm finishing up the 930-page book I started reading in early July, my tomatoes are wilting, and the academic monkey suit comes off its hanger on Monday evening, so I guess the summer must be over.

Compared to last summer, when this blog saw a lot of Spain-themed action, I had my hands full in the last two months pulling together a manuscript. I sent it off to a publisher last week and finally cleaned off my desks (the ones in my home office, work office, and the always-cluttered one in my head). Now I wait to see if said publisher wants it, and, in this week before classes start, I've taken a few days "off" to recharge a bit before the semester. I haven't felt this free for two years. It won't last.

Writing a manuscript doesn't provide a whole lot of blog fodder, nor is it all that visually interesting, but it was a gratifying process that resulted in just shy of 95,000 words, 317 pages of piping hot prose, a deeper knowledge of colons and Chicago style, a newfound appreciation for epigraphs, an upgraded desk chair, a fondness for the air conditioning and the summer silence of the Smith College library periodicals room, and the sweet, sweet relief of a FedEx box in the mail. Huzzah!