I tried to get up at 5 a.m. today but my body refuse to believe we were home from vacation. The lounging ’till 8 a.m. The pajama-wearing days. They’re gone for a while. It’s time to get back to the morning writing routine.

After being away from my routine, I find that there are things I need to do in order to prepare for “re-entry.” I tidied my desk. Tossed out all the papers that were laying around my desk. Put my new pens into my new desk caddy (found in Canada and love it!). Set the writing notebook on the desk. Watered my bamboo plant. Dusted the desktop. Only then did I open the Word doc and scan through the words written while away from home. Not bad. Not great. But onward I went.

I got in about 200 words before signing off to jump into the day job. Tomorrow morning — it’s back to the early-morning schedule. I should be acclimated to my life by then, wouldn’t you think?

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Spent a little time this morning reviewing the current scene…yes, I need to move past this scene…and reading a few writer‘s blogs. I find that the more I connect with other writers, the stronger I feel about my own writing. It’s becoming much more ingrained in my life–this writing-o-mine. I’m enjoying the process of discovering these characters who have tumbled around in my head for so many years. They are becoming more and more real every day.

My book is a work of fiction, but it would be a lie to say that there is not one grain of truth on the pages locked away in my hard drive. Like many writers, I “use” my life’s experiences in some of my work. Whether it’s the mannerisms of a particular character or the way that two characters interact — some of that, in this particular novel, is gleaned from my own encounters and memories. It’s inevitable.

The book is not my story–should make that clear to any who may one day read the finished manuscript and wonder–but there are bits and pieces that are pulled from things I have seen and people I have met.

This trip to Canada has really helped me to further develop Claire’s personality. Where I’ve been stuck-with her voice–I feel more clarity now. I can’t wait to get home and spend some time capturing all that I’ve discovered through this journey.

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I’ve spent this week visiting with family in my hometown — which has been great for my writing as my current novel-in-progress is set in a town not unlike the city of London, Ontario, Canada. As my main character “comes home” for her mother’s funeral after a long absence, this visit has provided me with a wealth of content for the book and has opened my eyes to some things that I can see now are missing in the homecoming scenes.

It’s not that my life is all that different, back in Atlanta, but as I look around at the people and the places of where I began, it’s abundantly clear that I’ve left home. That I am a visitor to this place. To their life. And it’s not a bad thing. I left and their lives stayed intertwined in a way that I will never experience. The familiar sights and sounds-the rhythm of their everyday comings and goings–are connected by location.

So for Tess, I need to capture that emotion. That reality that–even though Bon Jovi says you can “go home”–it’s not going to be the same. The sights and sounds may spark a long-forgotten memory, but the person in that memory is someone else.

What Tess has experienced in her years away from home, living in a place far-removed from the small town she grew up in, has changed her. That’s something that became very clear to me this week and will surely help me create a stronger character in Tess.

I did manage to get a little writing done–even in my allergy-drug-induced state. Not a lot, mind you, but some–between eating, shopping, and hanging out with family, I did get a few words down.

Am back in my hometown, London, Ontario, for my mother’s 65th birthday celebration (among other things). We crossed the border into Canada on Sunday afternoon and beelined it to the nearest Tim Horton’s coffee shop for my fix of their signature coffee (double/double). I grew up on the stuff and although I think there is likely some kind of addictive drug in their 40-year-old recipe, I’m a fan. Every family member that visits me in the sunny south is required to smuggle cans of the brew in their luggage or they are turned away at my door.

So, today is my second day home and I had a wonderful day seeing all of my family: Mom, Dad, Sisters..the whole clan. Felt good to reconnect. Sometimes I feel like a bit of a stranger, being so far from all of them. Today (after the initial “OMG, you’re really here”), we picked up where we left off. Family is like that. They know you. They love you regardless of how many wrinkles you have or if your clothes somehow smell like they’ve sat in a washer for days (not sure what they hell was in my suitcase…).

Even though I’m officially “on vacation,” I did manage to write a few lines this morning. I forgot to bring my handy-dandy notebook so I was having a little trouble with the current scene, so tomorrow I will have to work on the scene where Tess finds the list. I’ve been looking forward to that scene so I may as well get it down!

We went to see a movie (Eat, Pray, Love…awesome) and ran into my cousin’s girlfriend, whom I had never met. And she says, “OH! You’re the author. I read your book!” And my sister Paula says, “Isn’t that cool? You’re an author? I love telling people that my sister is a writer.” I smiled. Yes. Yes. It IS cool.