I try to stuff all the reality crap into one day a week, so I can create the other six days. However, Murphy decided that was insufficient. Some things were super important like DH's eye doctor appointment. If you've ever had your eyes dilated, there's a reason you need someone to drive you home.
However, DH's appointment was on my day planner's to-do list. A lot of other stuff was not. In fact, I've only been able to cross off one other item on the to-do list.
That was a rather enjoyable dressing down of our local hospital administration for their lack of professionalism. For context, the hospital waited fourteen months before sending me the invoice for a 2024 appointment. These are the same people who threatened to sue me when I couldn't pay them thousands of dollars for my cancer treatments that the insurance company within six months. *side eye*
I get it. We're all just a number in the cogs of U.S. business interests. However, it irritates me when a compromise could be reached if the greedy fucks just weren't so fucking greedy.
*sigh*
Anyway...
I need to get back and finish the fiddly bits of a new novel coming out. I hope everyone has an enjoyable spring weekend! Or a lovely fall weekend if you're down under!
Thank you, readers!
I'll have links for the rest on the series page and on this blog post as soon as possible.
Thank you to all of you that have sent notes concerning the Justice series. I really appreciate your support! I'm so amazed that what should have been a one-off short story has turned into a beloved series.
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On the way home, we stopped in Columbia, SC, to visit the friend who originally set us up. We spent the night with her before heading back to Ohio. We stopped in Cincinnati to have dinner with DH's best friend and his wife.
All in all, a good trip with too much good food.
It wasn't all fun and games. I wrote and edited on the trip. Prior to leaving, I placed A Barrel of Vintner and Death Goddess Walking on preorder on Amazon. A Barrel of Vintner is also up on the other retailer sights. So I need to set up Death Goddess Walking on the rest of the retailers.
One of the books has been fully edited and delivered to my formatter. I'm 75% through the second book and hope to finish it up today.
I also need to get some bills paid, correspondence sent to our hospital (they forgot to bill me for a check-up back in 2024!), and wade through all the e-mails and snail mail I've received while on the road. Then there's the piddly domestic stuff like picking up prescriptions, washing the laundry from the trip, and putting away clean dishes.
To top everything off, our brand-new roof has a leak, and we need to make some phone calls about that!
However, I have taken a few minutes to admire the spring flowers that were blooming when we arrived home, and I'm giving extra snuggles to the Princess Pup and the Grandpuppy. They both detest the Doggie Hotel even though the staff spoils them rotten.
I hope everyone is whittling though their own to-do list and enjoying a wonderful spring day!
For the third time.
Why? Because I kept getting interrupted with life stuff. I did my first round shortly after finishing the manuscript and sent it to my alpha reader. Then, somehow, I had partial second-round edits in two different files.
Whoops!
So, now I'm picking through files to make sure all the second-round edits are in one file. And I'm finding a few more typos in the process.
I'm really hoping to get it done today. I'm ready to jump back in to working on A Barrel of Vintner.
Why? So I can get back to writing new stuff. As necessary as editing is, it can be incredibly boring.
YMMV!
It's a bit of a relief since I was wondering if I'd ever get to the end. I thought a quiet winter would help, but the last three months have been anything but quiet, both in my personal life and in the world at large.
Needless to say, my writing and publishing schedule has been pushed back thanks to the chaos. I'm still plugging away at the other books on my list. And I really hope things calm down.
Except I know they won't no matter how much I childishly wish for it. It doesn't mean I can't keep hope in a little box on my desk. Sometimes, clinging to hope is the only thing that gets me through my days.
Tonight, I'll work on something else to clear my palate before I start edits. I'll let you all know when the preorders go live. And don't get too excited just yet. It may be a couple of weeks before I finish the edits. It's damn long book!
Whenever I have major amounts of stress, I end up with a ton of muscle and joint pain. The doctors over the last twenty years have no idea why. And since it can't be instantly diagnosed, they give up. It leaves me struggling on days like today.
The overall stress isn't going away any time before 2029. Hell, it may even get worse after 2029. All I can do is try to alleviate personal stress. Which I generally do by writing.
See my problem? LOL
Anyway, the fabulous Mallory Goeke has hand-drawn a new Ohio Rebel Symbol. She shares her work freely, but if you want a copy, kindly tip her of Venmo.
So between this gorgeous bird and some perfectly baked chocolate chip cookies, I'll relax and see how close to finishing A Barrel of Vintner today!
To quote Dustin Pace, aka Non-Toxic Masculinity on Facebook, "Read Books. Lift Weights. Fight Fascists."
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