Tag Archives: projects

Question Time!

So, I’ve seen this on a few blogs. No one tagged me for this, but I wanted to do it anyway. So there. It’s a collection of questions about you as a writer and your latest work in progress, so I thought I’d spend a little idle time and answer there, whether anyone’s interested or not. Because I love these things. Here we go!

What is the working title of your book?
Serpent in a Cage (potentially with The Asyentai Chronicles or The Age of Return involved in there, too)

Where did the idea come from for the book?
Sometimes, when you’ve been working on a book for as long as I’ve been working on Serpent in a Cage, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when inspiration struck. The first draft, which was completely and entirely different and nothing like the current incarnation except for the presence of I think two characters (out of a very large cast!), was written when I was in sixth grade, but it was such a different tale then that I don’t even know if I could count it. But, in my mind, the world that SiaC opens up to the world started when I was ten years old, in a memory that’s as vivid with meaning as it is hazy with detail. I hold in my mind traipsing around Mission Creek Woodland Park in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, pretending to be characters from the DragonLance book series, when all of a sudden, the characters started to change a little and become slightly different, and they grew from there into the vast world of Aryneth…A world of my own, a world yet unknown, a world that has stuck with me ever since and hopefully will for a very, very long time.

What genre does your book fall under?
Serpent in a Cage is definitely a fantasy novel, which is still hard for me to unabashedly admit since college tried to get it through my head that genre fiction is bad. I’m tempted to talk about how it’s more character driven with fantastical elements, and that’s true, but, I’m going to put down my foot, toss back my head, and proclaim, “Yup. It’s fantasy. Deal with it.”

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Since the cast of Serpent in a Cage is so large, it would be hard to cast most of them, so I’ll stick with the three main ones. I know, visually, the only ones I have in mind for Locke Mandrake Battarack and Gilferen Allok are models who have questionable acting skills, though one of the Phelps twins could do a good run as Gilferen. For Auferrix Ferrore, I can’t help thinking Frida Pinto would be glorious if it turned out that we can rough her up a bit and make her more bad-ass.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A plot to save a captured princess should be easy enough, but the Battaracks are about to discover a world that goes much, much deeper than they would have ever expected.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Self-published, baby! I always imagined myself trying to traditionally publish the Aryneth series, but now the thought is almost anathema, unless any publishers just happened to want to take it over because it’s doing so awesomely, lol, /dreaming.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The ‘first draft’ in its completed form took me probably about four years to write, from the time I sat down with the new approach and dedicated myself to finishing it. I believe it was completed sometime in 2009 or 2010, and I started to revise it in 2011, only to discover I wanted to completely rewrite it. I’m still working on the second draft, though it’s going quite well. These dates are mostly just guesses; I’m feeling too lazy to look into the actualities of it.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Oof. That’s a tough one, since I try my best to keep myself from being comparable to other tales in this genre. I want it to be more like A Song of Ice and Fire, a big sweeping epic, but it’s not (yet). I suppose I could compare it to The Wheel of Time in that there’s the unlikely hero, the big prophesies, etc, etc, but again, I wanted to break the mold with Serpent in a Cage in that the first book is really a pretty simple tale, and it’s not a sweeping epic, though it will be…eventually. In that respect, I’d almost compare it to The Hobbit, in that it’s the little bit that starts up a much bigger thing later on. The style and the structure, though, I think, still lends an awful lot to the DragonLance books that originally inspired it so many years ago.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
You can tell that there have been a great many books to inspire me along this path, and that this book is a long time in the making. But if I had to attribute this book to any one source of inspiration, I would have to say my father. It was through his own love of books, passed down to his eager, starry-eyed daughter, that I was able to discover and embrace this incredible power to create. Thanks, Dad.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Besides the fact that it’s awesome? Aryneth to me is a complete world, fully realized and exceptionally detailed, and I should like to think that it’s a world people will enjoy getting lost in. The characters are all unique, but relateable, on several levels. They’re regular people, in a fantastical world, in an extraordinary situation. To me, that’s what fantasy is all about, and I really hope I’m able to accomplish that feeling of wonder and relateability through Serpent in a Cage and the subsequent epic to follow.

I’m not going to tag anyone for the questions because no one tagged me. I’ll just leave it to whoever wants to talk about their upcoming works to tackle if they so desire!

I am going to take a moment, though, to thank my newest subscribers, Chris Martin and Patti Niehoff! Thanks so much for following!

RoW80 Check-In: More Like a Catch-Up.

“‘I smell Ssark on the wind,” Tayahyla said, her face made of stone. ‘That reek is unmistakeable, a hunting party, though a small one. Still, we’d better move quickly before they start taking to the idea of Human flesh to break their fast.’”

As you may have realized, not only did I skipp Sunday’s Round of Words in 80 Days post, but I’ve also missed a few regular days of posting in between. Sometimes, it happens. Sometimes, it happens especially because a person’s life is so busy she barely has time to do anything else except what’s going on. There’s been socialization. There’s been print copies to review. There’s been a trip to Michigan to plan. There’s been a lot of stuff at work. Oh, yeah, and there was a Labyrinth party.

Needless to say, I’ve been pretty busy. RoW80 is the writing challenge that “knows you have a life,” and that’s definitely become evident these past few weeks for me. So particular goals have gone right out the window, and I’ve been working more on vague projects instead. Here’s a look at what I’ve got going on and, once things settle a little, will have coming up:

-Serpent in a Cage: I’m plugging along at SiaC as usual. I’m just heading into a battle scene, which moves things along nicely, but shortly after this is another battle scene, and then that leads us into the BIG battle scene, and I wonder if it’s almost too much action. There’s stuff happening in between, though, so I guess I’ll see when it’s written! Since my trip requires a six hour train ride, I’m hoping to really blow through the rest of this chapter later today when there’s little else to do but watch the scenery fly by.

-Bowlful of Bunnies: The second print proof for BoB came in yesterday and it is perfect, so I’m estatic and excited and wish I had more time to sit down and actually formulate a marketing approach for it, but I’ve had no such time. I know I want to do some contests, maybe a give-away, that sort of thing, so planning that is on the agenda for my little “retreat,” too. It’s currently available at the CreateSpace store here for $5.99 USD, with eventual Amazon listing to follow in a few days. It looks phenomenal. I couldn’t be happier. And I’ll bet you’d be hard pressed to find cuter page markings than these ones, too.

-Potential Anthology: In a conversation with my roommate, the subject of a special, brief Halloween horror anthology came up briefly, and I’ve been toying with the idea of making it a contest instead of just a collection of whatever I could clomp together before October 31st. I still need to hash out a few details, but I would love to know if this would be something anyone would be interested in. You could submit whatever, there’d likely be a Kindle and print version, and there may be daily or occasional prompts for inspiration, ala the contest Morgan Dragonwillow ran not too long ago that had left me so inspired. Thoughts would be appreciated! If I decide to go for it, I’ll likely have more information available next week.

Those are the main three writerly things that have been occupying my mind in the (very) rare moments lately when I have time. Even today is jam packed with stuff (laundry! cleaning the cat box! job interview! packing! get to the train station on time!), but I’ve made myself take some time to do a little scribbling and a little reading, because I’ve missed the chance to do that and I’m so looking forward to this train ride at four so that I can do nothing but just sit and relax. Ahhhhh.

Still, I won’t complain. It’s been an awesome last few weeks, and I definitely can’t gripe about a day that includes the arrival of a perfect print proof and a phone call I’ve been waiting about for an interview for a promotion, with a brief little “mini-vacation” to follow. Life’s pretty good right now. A whirlwind, but I’m willing to let it sweep me up.

Needless to say, I haven’t been able to keep up with my fellow RoWers lately (though you can do so easily here). How is everyone else doing? Are you planning to get in some Happy Writing?

RoW80 Check-In: The Waiting Game.

“Locke grunted, trying to hold down his irritation. ‘Men lie, Majani,’ he said, ‘and quite often, and that’s why I ask. You didn’t honestly believe us to just blindly follow anyone with enough gold into caves and secret dungeons, do you?’”

I wasn’t sure if I was going to pull off a check-in post today, but, thanks to an agreement that has me working all day tomorrow, I was released from work early today and could have enough time to pen this after all. It’s not going to be much of an update, a little quick and dirty, but things have been going really, really well. Not so much with my Round of Words in 80 Days goals, but with life in general. And I’ve strayed a bit from the goals, but other accomplishments have surfaced, which makes me feel a little better about it. Especially since the whole point of RoW80 is the flexibility.

I’ve been doing really, really well with a-page-a-day on Serpent in a Cage, although I feel this chapter is kind of a hot mess. I’m just going to keep plugging along. This is the boring travel chapter, where I have to rely on character interactions to carry it, and I don’t think I’m doing as well as I could be with that. However, that’s what edits are for, right?

I started transcribing what I have for SiaC‘s sequel, too, and, oh man, is it bad! It’s almost kind of funny. It was last year’s NaNo, so, when I was writing it, it was all about word count. SiaC is still my main focus between the two, obviously, but I’m really going to have to roll up my sleeves when I get to cracking down on this one.

But the real catch in my recent progress is that pesky song of the Muse. Sometimes, I feel like I have practically no attention span at all, but my Muse makes me feel like I’ve got the focus of a GOD. Lately, two of my previous WIPs (Soulless with the zombie dystopian world and the one with the super haunted house) have been calling to me, and, not wanting to ignore them, I’ve embraced them with a little bit of scribbling here and there, too. Now, I know I’ve talked a lot about how I was going to push back the fear of finishing Serpent in a Cage, but a part of me still feels, “Maybe not yet…” So if either of these WIPs continue to demand my attention, I might switch my focus again, but we shall see.

I’ve also got two book reviews that I’ve been lazy about writing, and another one to come up shortly, too, so the reading’s going well, too.

And the most exciting news of all?

The print proof for Bowlful of Bunnies should arrive sometime this week. Wait. Did I say print proof? I do believe I did! I’ve finally hopped on over to CreateSpace to give their program a try, and so far, I am incredibly impressed…as well as completely flabbergasted by how incredibly easy it was! Granted, I haven’t gotten the print yet, so I don’t yet know how it’s going to work out, but if it does….having a print version of BoB is going to open a lot of doors. I have a lot of exciting things planned, and I can’t wait to get them started. Definitely stay tuned!

And, in the meantime, why don’t you hop on over here and visit my fellow RoWers? You’ll be glad you did.

Happy writing!

When You Can’t Think of Anything to Write…

Some days, you just can’t seem to think of something to write.

Well…this statement is not necessarily true. Thankfully, I’m starting my two days off to focus on writing very well, in that I have a very strong drive to really pound out some words on my various WIPs. I also have a few ideas for some blog posts…Arynethian gods, review of a book I just finished…but I really don’t feel like writing those. The Muse is very particular today, and I am giving myself over to her entirely. It is a welcome break from the vagueness she usually brings to the table, leaving me scrambling to interpret what it is she’s trying to get me to do. With this sort of directness, I will gladly take it, even if it is fickle and has me bouncing about from one thing to the other.

Among these things will be an interesting experiment that I don’t expect to go anywhere, but I’m going to have a stab at. When I mentioned to a friend that I had three days off in a row (though those three days were whittled to two), he joked that I should use the time to write erotica fanfiction and make a million bucks off of it (ahem). This lead to a conversation about what the fanfic should be of, and there’s the starts of a horrible Doctor Who fic today, entitled “Sexterminate!” Names, of course, will be changed for eventual publication (the Professor and Violet, anyone? Maybe the Physician and Colonel John Hawknest?). I mentioned “Sexterminate!” to my roommate, who then requested A Song of Ice and Fire instead, specifically developing on the relationship between Sandor Clegane and Sansa Stark (SanSan, if you will), entitled either “Burning Heart” or “The Fires of Love.” I do not write fanfiction. But I have to admit, my friend had a good point that it could be an interesting experiment to have a stab at it, change the names and qualifying details, and see where it goes. Right, E.L. James?

Also, tonight is Project Runway night, while tomorrow is payday, so I can’t really have any complaints. Sometimes, the blog posts just aren’t going to come, but the Muse is interesting like that. If she’s being stubborn on one thing, she’s usually generous in another, and it’s all a matter of being able to figure it out and embrace it.

RoW80 Check-In: Microsoft Word Hates Me.

“Thankfully, Taluin had enough compassion and empathy to know what he meant without him having to say. ‘Oh, Locke,’ she said, her voice catching, breaking in her throat. ‘You were her world.’”

So, some of you may have been reading about my recent awesomeness revolution lately; some of you may not. In a nutshell, life is awesome right now, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into some epic progress on my Round of Words in 80 Days goals, and that’s okay. I’ve been making some steady page-a-day progress on Serpent in a Cage, and that has been most of my writing focus lately.

I’ve attempted to work on some short stories and typing up some of the first part of SiaC, but my computer has been acting a little…strange whenever I use Microsoft Word. I’ll get maybe half a page or so into typing, and some virus or some glitch in my computer is causing the Save As screen to pop up. I save frequently, so, at first, I thought I was just clicking it, but this is not the case. And then I go to save, and the window prompt keeps showing up, until I have to shut the program down entirely. It’s odd, it’s strange, it’s possibly something potentially harmful, but it’s an old, battered laptop, and that’s bound to happen eventually. Right now, I don’t want to deal with it, so I just do what I can and then call it a day when it pops up.

Nothing too exciting, then. I’m in the phase where it’s mostly just write, write, write, so I’m trying to use my time not at the notebook getting back into the blogging community and picking at a few short stories so I can start submitting to magazines again.

I would like to throw out a question, though: Anyone know of any good contests going on right now? Even if it’s just something to help prompt me…I know the contest Morgan Dragonwillow ran ages ago inspired a lot of really great new work from me. I’m looking for something like that to spark my creativity again, so if you can think of anything, please pass it along! I’d love to get back into something like that, but my focus is all skewed and I might need a little help.

How is everyone else doing? Have you had a chance to check in with any other RoWers (it’s real easy, you can just go here!). I’ve got the next three days off, so I’m really looking forward to a lot of Happy Writing!

Before I go, though, I’ve got a new follower to welcome to the blog. Hi, f-Stop fun! Thanks so much for subscribing!

RoW80 Check-In: It’s Sunday Already?

“‘Locke!’ Taluin’s voice was suddenly a whip, sharp and commanding…and stinging, too. ‘Don’t ever say something like that again! They were your parents; it’s your history. You should ask! Ask everything; you have a right ot know, and no one can blame you for your curiosity. Ask. Especially since I have answers. Please, ask, but one question at a time!’”

This week was certainly a whirlwind for me! It’s hard to believe that it’s already Sunday and time for another Round of Words in 80 Days check-in; it feels like I was just whipping one of these Sunday check-ins the other day. I think that’s a good thing, over all. I think it’s nicer to have a week fly by than to have one that just seems to drag on and on, even if I feel I haven’t been as productive as I could have been. I haven’t been a complete loss, though, like last weekend.

Nothing too thrilling has been happening as far as my goals are concerned. I’m getting the first part of Serpent in a Cage typed up to sort of get a head start on typing it all up when it’s finished. I’m thinking of running the same sort of contest I ran with Battarack Girls: encourage a little spike in Bowlful of Bunnies‘s sales which lead to a reveal of the prologue. I’m also scribbling away in the main text, on one of my favorite chapters where Locke learns about his mother from Taluin, and it’s all heart-tugging and you just want to give him a great big old hug.

I’ve been working a little bit on some short stories, too. Not much, and my classic dilemma of being able to start things without finishing them is ringing true. So, I have a lot of stories started, but not a whole lot of them finished. One needs to be polished and sent out, though, so there’s something. I’m hoping to poke at them a little bit more on my upcoming days off, but most of my energy on days when I work has been channeled into SiaC.

I’ve been trying to be better about visiting my fellow RoWers lately, too (you can find them all here!), as well as doing plenty of reading and what have you. Quite a few good things have been happening in life in general, balanced out with some not so good things, so right now I’m feeling a pretty decent zen about everything. I’m not sure I really feel about delving into the depths of my brain with everything going on, but I do know that I can say there might be some really, really interesting things coming my way. Of course, usually when I say that, things tend to plod on as usual, but maybe this time I’ll actually be right.

How are things going for you? Have you ever had something going on in your life that you wanted to tell people about, but knew it was more prudent to just wait and see? I hate waiting, but at least the zen helps me keep my patience in check.

The 100 Books Project: The Myth of the Garage.

“So maybe you don’t need to think out of the box. Maybe you just need a new one to think in.”


“The Myth of the Garage” by Chip and Dan Heath

Everyone’s probably familiar with the adage that claims that you get what you pay for. Working in sales, I’ve been known to say it on occasion to tout the fact that our teas are a heck of a lot more expensive than the fanning you get in a teabag at the grocery store. Quite often, you’ll heard the old words of wisdom applied to ebooks…As writers, we strive to avoid the cliche, both in our writing and in proving statements like “you get what you pay for,” but sometimes…well…you do get what you pay for.

The Myth of the Garage was picked up on one of my “buy ALL the free books!” sprees, which have yielded…interesting results, at best. The Myth of the Garage is by no means a bad book; in fact, I found it pretty entertaining, but it was pretty unmemorable and sort of a “meh” kind of read. It’s a collection of short (and I mean short!) articles written by Chip and Dan Heath for Fast Company magazine, imparting advice and wisdom in a humorous fashion regarding the world of business and investing. The title article, for example, talks about how a lot of upstarts didn’t really upstart their business in their garage, as the mythos goes, but rather got their start by good-old hard work with other companies before they left the corporate nests to fly on their own. The quotes comes from an interesting article suggesting that maybe the outside of the box isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There’s one about productivity, and one about research, and it’s all pretty basic stuff.

Which is to say that I didn’t really take anything new away from The Myth of the Garage. A lot of the advice is sort of Marketing/Business 101 to me, though I suppose others might find some new gems in there, others who haven’t been scouring the Intrawebz searching for blogs on the same topics or listening to a lot of radio programs while cleaning the house. I felt the articles were much too short to really add anything valuable to my life; it’s hard to really push new ideas in three short pages, which is about the length of a typical article. Still, they are written with a good amount of humor and tongue-in-cheek, and I did enjoy that quite a bit. So, nothing groundbreaking, a little too brief for my tastes, but still kind of amusing. It was a free book, and I basically got what I paid for.

There’s another marketing topic you guys could write an article on.

Books read: 28/100.

RoW80 Check-In: Back in Black.

In all honesty, I’m not wearing black right now; I merely wanted to get AC/DC stuck in your head. You’re welcome.

“      Suddenly, he cut himself off. He wanted to say more. He wanted to express how little he thought of destiny if this was the life destiny had chosen for him. He wanted to firmly deny the existence of anything that barred him from being in charge of his own fate. But he didn’t. He firmly set his mouth shut against the complaints, staring fiercely forward as he tried to sort through his thoughts.
      Realizing he had nothing more to say, Taluin lightly shook her head. ‘You truly are like your father,’ she mused, her voice marveling and soft.”

Today is Wednesday, which means it’s time for a Round of Words in 80 Days check-in, as well as an attempt to get back into gear after an unexpected little…we’ll say holiday from the writing world. It’s been an interesting, eventful few days, to be sure, which makes me feel a little bit better about the fact that it was so rubbish for writing. There are some possibilities opening up at work, and my social life took a dive on one facet while a reconnection with an old friend brought it skyrocketing up again. Life works in so many mysterious ways, it truly does, and I love when it happens with a bang. But it’s also nice to get back to something a little more regular and paced.

I’m still making some steady progress on Serpent in a Cage, but I’ve decided this morning that I want to turn my attention on getting some more short stories written and submitted to magazines. I usually go through a cycle where I feel motivated to write and submit, and then I quickly fall out of it and it falls to the wayside as I focus on novels more. So I don’t know how long this bout will last, but we shall see. I whipped up a little tale that’s been in the back of my mind yesterday, and today I’m trying a hand at whipping up something new. It’d be nice to aim for a new tale every day, but I’ve tried that before and I know how lofty a goal it is, so we shall see. The fact that I get two enjoy two consecutive days away from work has made me feel ambitious and optimistic.

I also want to turn my attention back to getting Bowlful of Bunnies on other platforms, including a potential print version. I keep intending to do this, but other projects and life events keep distracting me. Every so often, another sale comes in and tickles me pink, but I really feel like I just threw it out there in the wind and let it do its own thing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I feel a little guilty that I should be cultivating it or guiding it a bit more.

I’ve got a few Aryneth-themed posts in the works, and a few more book reviews coming, and hopefully no more big gaps in posts like these last few days. But, hey. Sometimes, you’ve just got to take those breaks.

So, not much of an update, just a typical L.S. Engler note of getting back in the saddle again and ready to ride. Yee-haw! If you get a chance, check out my fellow RoW-ers here!

I’ve also got some new followers to welcome and thank. So thanks for following the blog, Armand Rosamilia, Ellis Nelson, and Zac Egs! So cool to have you guys here!

The 100 Books Project: The Fall of Atlantis.

“‘…Never underrate the power of intellectual curiosity, Domaris! It leads to more trouble than any other human motive! If Riveda were malicious, or deliberately cruel, he would be less dangerous! But he only serves one motive: the driving force of a powerful mind which has never really been challenged…’”


“The Fall of Atlantis” by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Fall of Atlantis is a very odd book. I’ve thought many times on how exactly I’d describe it, and that’s what I come up with every time. I’ve been slowly working through some of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s works, and I’ve liked everything I’ve read so far up until this one. The concepts, the ideas, and the world-building were exceptional, of course, but the actual writing itself failed to leave a good impression on me. Opaque in most parts and overly dramatic, I could never really feel a strong connection with any of the characters or the events that were happening to them, and, as a result, the experience was not particularly lovely.

Which is a shame, because I really did want to like this book. I like MZB and I liked the idea of it, even if I wasn’t fond of the execution. I feel that the story of these two sisters bound by the strict and mysterious religion of their ancient world is too burdened with rhetoric to be effective. Domaris and Deoris are two sisters that could not be more dissimilar; kind and gentle Domaris, the older sister, is almost like a mother to the brash and stubborn Deoris, and they are daughters born into the prestigious Priest caste of their society. Their father is one of the highest Priests, and their careers are expected to follow a similarly successful path. Of course, things are never that simple, and the sisters, especially little Deoris, find themselves tangled up in a great mess of ritual and faith that mingles with questions of sexuality, womanhood, and love. The love and motherhood aspects were so heavy-handed that it almost turned me off of those ideas, and the sexual rituals of the Grey Robe order were intriguing, but they were so vague and random that it felt entirely gratuitous.

There are a lot of really fantastic ideas in The Fall of Atlantis; of course there are. It’s Marion Zimmer Bradley. But the telling of the story and the execution of the ideas fell flat. It’s interesting, because this edition finishes off with a very brief afterward from the author, in which she contemplates the source of ideas. It feels very fitting, as The Fall of Atlantis seems like little more than a roughly conceptualized idea. Some of it all ties together, most of it doesn’t, and it’s definitely an intriguing world, but not one I felt truly immersed in or invested in. I would have liked to have been, but I was just left mystified, in a wholly unsatisfactory way, like these over-dramatic characters in this mythical saga were holding back all their secrets and had no intention of giving them up to their reader. Frustrating, disenchanting, and how very disappointing.

Books read: 27/100.

RoW80 Update: Rowing Along.

“     ‘You deceptive little minx,’ he said, grinning as he leaned into her, not for the illusion of their secrecy, but merely to be closer.
     ‘I know,’ she whispered back, her dark eyes lingering on him for a moment before they set themselves steadily forward. ‘I’m already fitting in.’”

It’s Wednesday, which means I get a sneak peek at what my paycheck will be, there’s a new episode of Top Chef Masters tonight, and it’s time for a Round of Words in 80 Days update! Not that there’s much to update, but that’s typical for a Wednesday, too.

Though I’ve been picking at it a little bit, I haven’t been keeping up with a page-a-day on Serpent in a Cage, but that’s okay. It’s still moving along nicely at a steady pace, and I’ve dug up the notebook that holds the first half so I can get a little bit of a jump on typing it up. I’ve also dug up the draft of SiaC‘s (currently untitled) sequel that I worked on for NaNo last year, so that I can start picking at that a little bit, too. One of the pieces of writing advice I’ve taken to heart is that you should have your next three books finished and ready to be prepped before publishing your current book. Clearly, I didn’t do that when I published Bowlful of Bunnies, but I definitely have a hefty draft on my hands with SiaC. I’d like to be that way with the next book when SiaC arrives, too, so it isn’t too long between books.

And that’s about it. I’ve got a line of books finished awaiting review, I’ve been feeling a little ill lately, but I know that will pass in a few days, ahem (oh, isn’t it wonderful being a woman sometimes??), and I’m trying not to focus too much on a little gaffe in my social life, but it’s been a little invasive. I hate that. No matter how much you remind yourself that you want to focus on other things at this point in your life, there it is, nagging at the back of your brain like some terrible little demon that you can’t shake off.

Luckily, I scribbled out my feelings about it and might get a pretty interesting short story out of the deal!

Either way, I’ve been working, but not as much as I’d like, and I feel this week is going to be a little iffy, anyway, between healthy and that sonuvabitch Life. Not the most exciting update here, I know, so be sure to check out my fellow RoWers here and see how they might be doing.

And, as always, Happy Writing!