As I left last month's column, I was struggling to get a proposal off to my agent, held back not by writer's block or personal trauma but, well, by life. Despite the children having been somehow let out of school for the summer (and whose idea is that??) and a book release on June 7th, by some miracle it not only made it to her desk, but also to my editor's desk, all in one month! And now begins the waiting game.

It's nice to be "in the game" again. I had a two year hiatus, not of my own choosing, between my last two books. I can say now that those two years were some of the most difficult I've ever experienced. It was horrible. Why was I putting myself though this? There were dozens of things I could picture myself doing instead-learning how to play golf, taking piano lessons again, gardening. Surely I would get a lot more personal reward out of those activities than the futile banging of my head against a wall in my chosen career path.

But, being either stupid or stubborn, I hung on. I continued to write. I didn't give up. I think if there's one thing I've learned so far and that I'm desperate to pass on to my children, it's that last thing-don't give up. I've heard it often said that the most successful people are those that simply don't give up.

So, here I am, playing the waiting game again. Fortunately, my daily distractions, while keeping me away from actually writing, can also work in my favor by distracting me from the phone that isn't ringing. For instance, we recently had a large landscaping project unfold in our backyard. While digging up a huge flowerbed, the landscapers (big, burly men) discovered three newborn baby bunnies whose nest had been disturbed with their equipment. The mommy was nowhere in sight.

Those big, burly landscapers excavated that entire backyard around the bunny nest until I could figure out what to do. I spent about two days on the phone with various nature preserves and veterinarians. I even recreated their nest in a new location and moved the bunnies (as small as my fist) to see if the mommy would come back to nurse them. She didn't. I ended up packing them up in our guinea pig carrying case (we have two piggies) and gently carting them several miles away to a rescue center. Did I mention this whole thing occupied about two writing days? I must admit, however, that I didn't once dwell on the fact that my phone wasn't ringing.

So, hopefully, by next month the waiting game will be over and I'll have some news to share. If not, I'm sure I'll have something to talk about. After all, we're heading to the Gulf Coast for a week at the beach-where all the shark attacks have occurred lately. I'll probably find a nest of baby sharks that I'll feel inclined to find a home for…