Roller Coasters of the Literal and Figurative Variety

First of all: Happy Bastille Day to all of you French people out there (and, also, to anyone who's ever spent several years studying French :). Everybody should eat a chocolate croisant or drink some good Bordeaux wine in celebration. Just say oui!

Secondly: I did my drawing for the Friday Mornings at Nine t-shirt and the Starbucks coffee package this afternoon...and congrats to TINA for winning this prize! Please email me with your address (MarilynBrant AT Gmail DOT com) so I can get it out to you. Hope you'll enjoy both!!

Finally: Yesterday was my annual Six Flags roller-coaster-a-thon with my son. We go just once per summer, but we're there ALL day. Yes, 12 full hours, from opening to closing. And, aside from a couple of quick meals, we don't stop moving.

We went on coasters 20+ times...from the Viper and the Iron Wolf to the Demon and the Raging Bull to a slew of other rides that spun us and flipped us and rocketed us around in the hot summer air. Our hands-down favorite of the day, however, was the American Eagle...a coaster I remember riding for the first time in the mid-1980s as a teenager.

Yesterday, with my pre-teen son, I went on it five times.

Twice on the red train.
Three times on the blue.
Twice at night.
Three times during the day.
We just kept going back to it, despite having had fun on the others... Why? Because it was the perfect coaster for us. Lots of thrilling drops and twists. A fabulous climb--slow but very high--and the cause for great anticipation. (Especially when we were in the first car, staring down that wooden mountain!) A long enough ride to make the wait worth it, but a journey filled with moments where passengers were able to catch their breath, too. It was paced just beautifully, and it was simultaneously exhilerating and scary.

I couldn't help but think, after a few times around, how like the process of getting a book published it was--especially now, as I'm readying myself for my second publishing ride. I know a bit more of what to expect this time: There's usually a long wait to even get on the train. (Although, at the right time of night...or if your contract negotiations go smoothly, the process can go faster.) There's the high climb of writing the book, revising it and getting ready for publication. There's the thrilling descent as the new novel drops into the world and people begin to react to it. (Some by screaming very loudly.) There are the twists and turns that follow--a handful you remember and anticipate from a previous ride, others you don't. And there's the absolutely certainty at some point in the journey that you just can't take it anymore. It's too fast! Too much! What were you THINKING getting on this crazy track?! But you finish the circuit and find yourself running back to the line again, waiting to get on another train so you can do it one more time.

Everybody, raise your hands high in the air with me, feel the rush of the wind against your face and scream, "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"

Yeah. Just like that ;).