I hope you’re having a fantastic week! It’s been a beautiful one here in south Texas; it’s as though we are actually experiencing a Spring instead of diving headfirst into sweltering, triple-digit Summer!
My family and I have been enjoying extensive hours outside, visiting parks and playgrounds, playing with our endlessly energized and entertaining dogs, feeding the chickens and charming new turkey, searching for tadpoles (my son’s newfound hobby), gardening, weeding, bubbling, chalking, sandboxing, and other made-up verbs inspired by children’s summer play essentials!
In writing news, I just sent my latest fantasy novel, Ring of Wishes, off to my incredible editor, Penny, and started work on a new nonfiction book for writers, which I’m super excited about! Given my current stage of life, it may very well take me half a decade to finish it, but hey, slow progress is better than no progress, right? 
Okay, time to dive into this week’s Top 4. I hope you enjoy it!
HOW TO LOSE PEACE FAST
“The quickest way to lose your peace of mind is to give someone a piece of yours.” – Jefferson Fisher
His book, is approaching the top of my To-Be-Read pile! You can find it HERE.
PRODUCTIVE LEISURE
“Leisure matters a lot to the likes of us. One doesn’t let it lie fallow, one fills it. One doesn’t dream, either (that I do at night, a great deal), one contemplates, meditates, reads, learns.” – Hans Scholl, from Letters and Diaries of Hans and Sophie School
How do you fill your leisure time? I definitely notice that when I let it “lie fallow,” as Scholl put it, I wind up feeling drained and foggy-headed. Conversely, when I fill my leisure hours doing things that feed my mind and soul, things like reading and writing and listening to music, or spending time in nature, I rise afterward feeling refreshed, invigorated, and inspired.
BRING BACK BIBLIOPHILES
When is the last time you asked your close friends what book(s) they were currently reading? While reading the aforementioned nonfiction book, I’ve been struck by the number of times the two siblings, each in their early 20s, ask their correspondents what they’re reading, and write at length about their current reads. Oh, that our generation could love and cherish books the way prior generations did!
MY ROLLERCOASTER MISCARRIAGE EXPERIENCE
In this week’s podcast, I talk about my third miscarriage. Please pass it on to anyone you know who has gone through, or perhaps is going through, a pregnancy loss.