I know I’ve been a complete blogging slacker this month. I’m going to blame my laptop being in for repairs for the past few weeks for part of my slackerliness because using my husband’s computer is a major pain (and I can’t always get it online).

But my near-absence from all thing online has brought forth good fruit.

1) I submitted a manuscript earlier this month. I should get a response, oh, sometimes around Christmas. *sigh* I hate waiting.

2) I have another book edited and sent out for a last round of critiques from the fabulous Tristi Pinkston (so I am bound to be gnashing my teeth and wailing when I get it back, but hey, what’s a good book without a lot of teeth gnashing in it’s super-secret history?)

3) Despite two family weddings, a family reunion, the Fourth of July (and the accompanying time spent in the fireworks stand), and the computer issues this month, I have added no less than 30,00 words to my next manuscript–Yay me!

The top two items and a 10,00 word minimum were my goals for Tristi’s Challenges quarterly challenge, so I’m pretty darn happy (and was I supposed to blog about my goal like four weeks ago? Whoops–that’s what happens when I disappear off the blog-o-spere.)

I had some great experiences this month, from weddings, to EMT trainings, to cool family history moments–so I have plenty to blog about in the next week or two. Tomorrow I head north to work with my sister Kristi on my sister Pauline’s totally nontraditional topsy-turvy wedding cake for her wedding Saturday–this is going to be fun!

Also, I got some great reviews on “Rebound” this month, crowned with the very awesome review from Jennie Hansen at Meridian Magazine, which you can find here. I’ll share an awesome quote (and promise to post links and quotes from a couple of other reviews next week when it’s not the wee hours of the night.)

“The plot is well crafted, fast, and fun. I enjoyed Justesen’s down-to-earth, easy dialog and style. The characters are multi-dimensional and show growth as the novel progresses.” –Jennie Hansen