What I've been up to this spring

mostly sports and books, as per usual, plus a sneak peak of the story I'm querying

Hi friends!

Life has been a whirlwind of mostly sports since I last wrote in March. I gave in fully to being present with my family, work, and reading for the last two months, and any writing time I had went to my middle grade manuscript (more on that later!). But now, I’m ready to get back into my Substack world. I have just under two weeks left of work (and until my oldest graduates from high school).

view of my front porch flowers

For the curious, here are some stats of my last few months:

• Between my three kids, we have had 75 sports games on the calendar so far since mid-February. Two of our teams completed their seasons, and one culminates in a championship game today (go Hallee!🏀). Playoffs start on Wednesday for another kid.

• I read 15 books in March, 10 books in April, and 13 so far in May. These numbers surprise me, though many of them recently have been audiobooks listened to while doing other things. Looking forward to getting back more to paper (and continuing with e-readers) this summer. See all my current/recent reads here on StoryGraph. I will get back to sharing some reviews soon, though possibly in a slightly different format.

• At work, library visits ended last week (I read aloud the book I always like to end the year with, Hot Dog by Doug Salati), and my stats tell me that my students checked out over 11, 750 books this school year—woohoo! I’m working on genrefying my upper level fiction books as I close out the year (which is super fun and nerdy for me).

• David and I have barely watched any TV lately because by the time our kids go to bed in this season, we are too tired to start something… so it’s mostly been MLB, college baseball/softball, and some playoff hockey and basketball. I miss TV shows and movies, LOL!

• I’ve enjoyed a handful of fun book clubs and bookish meetups, with more to look forward to (including a bookstore meetup tonight with two friends!).

• Flowers are in bloom (I have orchids, jasmine, and bougainvilleas going off right now as pictured above) and birds are very vocal— both the baby hummingbirds nesting on our back patio and the weird birds who like to get loud outside our bedroom window around 10pm.

• And finally, I’ve officially started querying my middle grade novel, Locals Only! I’ve sent out my first eight queries. Querying is a lot of work, but I actually enjoy the excitement of clicking “send” on those hope-filled emails, heart pounding every time. Praying this is the story that finds me the right agent.

junior lifeguards in action (my own kids in there somewhere)

I thought I’d share with you the blurb about my book finally:

It’s the summer before sixth grade, and Tessa Reed has one month to ditch her landlocked Colorado roots and become a local—before her family officially moves to La Serena, a fictional beach town inspired by North County San Diego. With a spot in the Junior Lifeguard program and her twin California cousins as her guides (sort of), Tessa’s determined to prove she belongs.

Armed with a list on how to become a local, Tessa is forced to face her own insecurities and expectations of what life in California will be like, especially when confronted by those who tell her outright she doesn’t belong. While preparing for the Junior Lifeguards competition day and exploring her new community, Tessa navigates the complexities of old and new friendships, discovers some amazing local food, and is surprised by the antics of an unhinged sea lion. Then there’s the Summer Festival project—which Tessa hopes will earn her some cred as a local—and the mysterious arrival of thousands of Velella velella (aka weird jelly-like sea creatures) on the shoreline that just might bring her the key to finally feeling at home.

LOCALS ONLY is a contemporary middle grade novel that incorporates the heart and family dynamics of The Vanderbeekers series, the fun cousin connections of The Firefly Summer, and the sun-soaked coastal vibes of Netflix’s Malibu Rescue.

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Looking forward to sending out more frequent messages to you in the months to come, especially after I get through 8th grade promotion, high school graduation, wrapping up year three in the library, and softball playoffs, lol.

I hope all is well with you, wherever you may be. And, as always, I’d love to know what you’re reading/watching/eating/enjoying!

xo,

Nicole

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