Tuesday morning, I woke up at 3AM with a UTI. I get them when I'm super-stressed. It doesn't matter if the stress is bad or good. Yeah, I know those are relative terms. But the last time I had a UTI was the day after my father-in-law's funeral. And I was having fun on my Tour of the Carolinas until everything caught up with me on the last full day in the South.
As I said above, the ladies at the urgent care clinic I went to were absolute dolls. I got in and taken care of. The PA assigned to me checked in regularly, especially when they discovered the testing machine had malfunctioned. They got a machine from another facility lickity-split because they couldn't prescribe antibiotics without confirmation.
While I waited for the prescriptions to be filled, I grabbed breakfast and gassed up the car. By the time I headed back to Becky's, less than two hours had passed.
Despite my plans to write and the antibiotics kicking in, I still felt like crap, so I took a good three-hour nap and a shower before she got home from her spin class. I had to skip the evening's martinis, but we got take-out from a delightful little family own restaurant.
On Wednesday morning, I woke feeling reasonable better. The drive from from Columbia, SC, to Northwest Ohio would only take nine hours, depending on the number of pit stops I made. Most of it is a straight shot up I-77.
Or it should have been.
A tractor-trailer crash brought down power lines across the interstate near Exit 124. I-77 was backed up for miles in both directions. The alternate routes were also backed up. You can't take three lanes of interstate traffic down to a couple of two-lane roads and not have delays.
Or in this case, a four-hour delay.
I didn't get home until after 11PM.
Just ahead of a major thunderstorm system that peeled shingles off the roof of our shed, overturned the decorative cistern next to our patio, and knocked over several neighbors trees. The official weather report says we had a 70 mph straight-line gust, but a neighbor and I speculated we may have had an F0 pass through from the sounds and the amount of damage.
But I'm home now. Two puppies are very pleased to have extra pets and cuddles again. And DH is happy that he no longer has to eat his own cooking!
But then the Beckster doesn't feel the need to drag me around her latest landing place. She had frozen pizza in the oven and a martini waiting for me when I arrived. We're getting Greek take-out tonight for dinner. There's just some friends who get you, and they are a royal treasure beyond measure.
Wednesday, I head home, but I think the break to visit family and friends has done me a world of good.
With music, I'm not addicted to a particular genre. I threw people off in the old days when one could look at a person's vinyl/cassette/CD collection and get a feel for someone's tastes. Mine was literally all over the place.
Dolly Parton, Madonna, Barry Manilow, Mozart, Prince, The Statler Brothers, Genesis, Elvis Presley, Metallica, ABC.
I've realized the commonality is the honest emotions in the song writing and the performance.
Last night, my friends took me all over Wilmington, NC, to see the sights. However, the highlight was a concert at UNCW by the Chatham Rabbits.And those qualities of honest emotion in their lyrics and performance makes me love their work.
The Chatham Rabbits are currently on tour if you want to check them out..
Here's a taste. . .
If you're an introvert, you understand what I'm talking about. If you're an extrovert, you probably won't. All I ask is you give us introverts some grace and kindness.
It's not that we don't like socializing. But the more people involved, the more strength we use to keep up. It's. . .exhausting.
At two of the four stops so far, the people I saw wanted me to meet their friends. The other two wanted to got out to eat at fancy restaurants in major cities. I just wanted to see the people I love. And I would have been perfectly happy to catch up over a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Right now, I'm ensconced in my room at a Charlotte Holiday Inn. Thankfully, check-out isn't until noon. It's only a three-hour drive to my next stop. So, I have roughly 18 hours of me time.
I need it. I mean I REALLY need it because my next friend is taking me out to dinner with her friends and then to a concert.
And the friend at my last stop just texted me about making reservations for dinner when I get to her house. I texted back, "Please don't make me go out! We order in or I'll cook." And she replied that was no problem
I'm glad I bookended my entire trip with people I've lived with at one time or another. They understand me.
The inevitable necessary hard drive replacement has happened. However, everything from the operating system to my folders have so many extra protections on them it's been a royal bitch to restore all the programs and files.
Not to mention the innate fear that I'll accidentally erase something I need.
Hell, even the free tools to correct PDFs and EPUBs have given me headaches while I try to reinstall them.
It doesn't help that the temperatures have plunged after a storm system rolled through Saturday night. Even with bright sunshine today, my space heater can't keep up in my office. The only way you can tell it's three days from Spring are from the buds on the trees and the squirrels chasing each other across the back yard.
While I wait for items to copy to this computer from my external backup drive (yeah, I have a ton of books, partial books, ideas, my music for inspiration, and various pictures for covers), I'm going to try to write up all the random thoughts about the publishing industry and work/life balance that have been rumbling through my head over the last few months.
Also, if you want some tidbits to read, I've started posting chapters for Sapphire (War of the Witches #1). This series won't be out until next year. I've got to finish Justice and The Books of Apep first. But I've been dabbling on Sapphire for a few minutes most nights before bedtime. When readers are expecting something in particular, I sometimes let the pressure to mess with my head. Writing on a private project of the heart makes a nice relief valve.
Or in the case of Justice, I don't want the adventure to end. I've had that problem with past books. I unconsciously slowed my writing because I love the characters so much, and I don't want to let go.
It's time to get more coffee and warm up my hands as I wait for files to finish copying.
Have a great Monday!
It's not just us. Everyone's losing business because of the current round of inflation. One of my fantasy cover artists had a full 2025 schedule on January 1st. Now, she's got authors canceling their slots left and right. My romance cover artist closed her website because it had become too expensive and rarely takes new clients for custom covers. My other fantasy cover artist and I had a long e-mail discussion about the change in the industry.
DH's employer had a round of layoffs. If Medicare is trashed, neither of us will be able to retire any time soon.
My friends who've already retired fear losing their Social Security on top of watching their 401Ks in free fall.
And to top things off, the entire world economy is still recovering from the chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments are killing sick chickens in mass in an effort to keep the mutating avian flu from turning into another health disaster.
Which is why a carton of 18 eggs is now more expensive than a pound of ground beef in our town.
How the hell can we expect people to buy our books when they can't afford nutritious food? I say that as someone who has health issues and is making that very same cost/benefit analysis.
And then there are the tariffs against our allies, which is prompting boycotts and other retaliatory measures.
So here's what I'm thinking--
To my fellow Americans, if you like my stories, but can't afford my books or feel in good conscience you can't buy them from a mega corporation, I get it. I'm looking into opening my own store so I can give you discounts, and I'm not getting overcharged by certain companies. Also, contact your local libraries about carrying my books so you can read them for free. If it's a question of your library's budget, I'm more than happy to donate both e-books and print books to your library. Have your librarian contact me.
To my readers outside of the United States, I understand why you might be boycotting any U.S. vendors, including me. I didn't vote for the current administration, but everyone's suffering under his idiotic policies. Frankly, you've got to look out for yourselves. Hopefully, both I and my books will still be around once the current chaos is done.
Until then, remember this quote from The Last of the Mohicans (1992):
You're strong! You survive! You stay alive, no matter what occurs! I will find you! No matter how long it takes, no matter how far. I will find you!
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