Well, my trip to Puerto Rico was definitely an epic success, both creatively and personally. I relaxed, managed to not check my email every five seconds, got a ton of writing done, and had a lot of firsts.

Saw my first live hummingbird (which as a lot of you know, is a big deal for me), swam with manatees (what!), explored and hiked through a rain forest, saw bio luminescence up close and personal while kayaking… good times. I’ve uploaded all my favorite photos (and videos) to Flickr, so have a look. I also put my favorites below, showing off the highlights.

In terms of writing, well, when I left Philadelphia my new novel was just barely over 10k. Now I’m at over 30k, 100+ pages.

Crazy, right? It’s amazing what pulling yourself out of your element can do. Hoping to have a finished manuscript by the end of the year. Then, the agent search begins. Hooray.

First thing I took a photo of when I landed.

Language advice in the hostel.

Hallway in the hostel.

Out for a walk.

Old buildings in San Juan.

Gorgeous buildings in Old San Juan.

Rescued this hermit crab from the street. <3

Nice place to wait for a bus.

I want to marry the girl who wrote this. <3

Walking on the fort in San Juan.

It’s true. <3

Had to go into Burger King. Couldn’t resist.

Oh hai!

Waterfall in the rainforest

A tower in the rainforest

The rainforest!

Relaxing on Loquillo Beach.

The beach!

Meet the new bun. I adopted him from my pal Amanda. I’m still trying to think of a name. He is heart meltingly cute and I am all kinds of happy right now.

Couple more shots after the jump. Videos forthcoming.