“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

• John Lennon

I had it all worked out. It was organized down to the day and wordcount. There was a plan, an outline, a strategy, even.

And then things went sideways.

At first, it wasn’t too bad. So there was a rewrite of a particular section in Book 2 of the Your Life with RA series. This happens when writing books, so although it messed with the plan, the plan had actually included things going sideways in this manner. So no worries!

And then things went off the rails.

I got the flu in early March. And that developed into pneumonia and other nasty things, which saw me laid up in the ICU for almost a month, experiencing fun things like an induced coma, a ventilator, coming way closer to departing life then I want to think about, and a tracheostomy.

Oddly enough, the recovery is taking quite some time. (ya think, Lene??)

I’ve never been very good with being patient, but I’m doing my best to give my body the time it needs. While noodling quietly away at the book.

And I have good news: this past weekend, the draft went to my substantive editor!

I’ve told him to take his time — I need some time away from the book in order to come back to it with fresh eyes. This will make the next rewrite much better.

In the meantime, I’m working on a couple of other exciting projects, paying attention to that recovery I mentioned above, starting to think about a revised plan for Book 2, and enjoying doing all of this in the beautiful summer we’re having in Toronto.

I hope you’re enjoying this season, wherever you are, and that you are giving yourself the time and space needed to help you do what makes you happy.