A terribly busy week. We wrote Ryder on Monday and Tuesday, and then on Wednesday, after a discussion with Avon, a decision was made to write Arabella’s very short story bribe.
By the way, thank you to all of the OB-GYN who responded. We got our two experts, but we deeply appreciate your help. We received over 30 offers.
So we dropped Ryder and crash-wrote the short story over the two days. The whole week was so busy. Interview arrangements, contract arrangements, making a decision about the audio narration for Ryder, looking for a map artist – why do artist people not respond when I email them? – reviewing the art sketch – Luisa Pressler is working on the Ryder cover, and it is badass. We signed a ton of book plates and sent them back to New York. Somehow this business stuff just piles up and then you have to power through it.
We have seen the COVID child who has not had any symptoms for 2 weeks. Trying to get tested in Austin right now is a nightmare. She came to the house. Everyone wore masks. Everyone gave hugs. She seemed okay. Then she raided the freezer, because that’s what you do when you come home, stole some meat, and I followed her with snacks and can to her car. She put the bag into the car. It wasn’t very heavy. And then she just sort of lay down on the seat and said she needed a minute. I worried about her the entire time it took her to drive to her house.
Then on Friday Kid 1 got very stressed out over her upcoming Security+ exam. Apparently, for the company of computer experts, CompTIA isn’t that great at making a user-friendly website and it locked her out of her labs. Also, Friday was the cleaning day. Every Friday, we dust, and wipe, and mop, and vacuum, and scrub the toilets. So after having done all that, I went down to the office to poke at Ryder again and realized that my brain was down to zero. Gordon was on his way there, and here I am, dragging myself back to the house. I was so tired, I didn’t even want to play my game. My left eye started twitching yesterday morning and it finally stopped. I think.
Nope, just twitched again.
The release is always difficult for me. People tend to assume that it’s negative reviews that cause the stress. It’s not really about the reviews. It’s more like the release itself is somehow mildly traumatic. I’ve been eating comfort food, which for me in the summer equals a Russian style salad with a ton of tomatoes, cucumbers, and sometimes onion, cut up, salted, and drizzled with olive oil. Sunflower oil is better, because that was produced in the city I was born, but I can’t find it in our local grocery store.
Guess who can’t have too many tomatoes? I realized I had an issue when my stomach started hurting again. No more tomatoes. 🙁 I went back to a double doze of Prilosec to mitigate the damage.
Honestly, release brings on a kind of frazzled insanity. Sometime toward the end of the week, I was listening to the audio sample of EMERALD BLAZE and Gordon frowned and said, “Did we write that?”
“Yes.”
“We did?”
“Yes. It’s the opening scene of Chapter 1.”
“Are you sure?”
We both will have to reread the book before the publicity week starts.
SATISFACTORY
A few days ago, Gordon sent me a link to a game called Satisfactory and said something like, “I think you’ll really enjoy this. You land on a beautiful planet and then you build an ugly complicated factory on it.”
I wasn’t so sure. I love the alien world games, but I usually prefer to be a scientist like in Subnautica not a dirty environment-polluting factory builder. But I decided to try it anyway.
Did you know that ore deposits come in 3 levels of purity and that Level 1 miner on a lowest purity deposit produces 30 ore per minute and since smelters also produce 30 ingots per minute, you only need one smelter per miner, but second level of purity produces 60, so you can have two smelters and you need to upgrade you conveyor belt? Well, now you do.
If you’ve played Factorio, it’s like that, except it’s first person and gorgeous. Click screenshots to enlarge slightly. I had to drop the quality a bit, because the files were huge.
Imagine me trying to build complex production chains with my sad fried brain.
I’ve repositioned assemblers like 9 times and then after that I researched new technology and they are like, “You can now move to coal energy provided you have water.”
There is water?
I built a little tractor and am driving around the planet. No water so far, but lots of cute critters. At some point I see this weird animal and I am like, “Hey there, goat-tentacle thing.”
And the goat tentacle thing spits fire.
Not everything is hostile.
If you like building things, this will be right up your alley. I need to figure out how to go vertical. It would save a lot of my logistical issues. 😀
Glad you found something for your abused brain. Aren’t husbands wonderful? ????
On first read, I was very concerned about the goat-testicle beast, and then suddenly it became a goat tentacle, and I’m not sure if that’s better or worse…
Fried brains sound delicious, but messy. Sending love and calming thoughts while you plough through the release process. Just know that this reader appreciates your work so very much.
Sounds like you’ve missed out on iZombie great show that shows yu a 1001 ways to cook your brain without too much mess ????????
As long as they’re spicy, right?
😉
OMG on Season 2 of iZombie and the things she cooks… Whew even I would eat it LOL
Sending hugs.
I’m sorry that new releases are always stressful – we certainly love them! Glad the kids are doing better, the game looks like fun, and glad you are taking some time for you – we want you all healthy and happy!!
Sorry to hear about your troubles contacting artists. Perhaps you might have better luck on their social media, if they’ve posted there recently.
Me and Hubby has just started Grounded which is great fun. We have build a massive tree house but I get frustrated when the big spiders chase and kill me!
We are pleasantly addicted????
Pleased Kid 1 is on the mend too????
My brother and I are playing Grounded too – we built on an island because the bugs won’t cross the water – scaffolding is your friend in that game
Last year I almost killed myself with tomato sandwiches. Ah, to be young and have a cast iron stomach again.
Pretty glad Kid 2 is doing better. I guess it takes time to be back to 100% after covid.
Getting stressed out here too. Too many bills to pay, income was cut and doesn’t seem to get back up to pre-covid level soon.
Need more books to escape to. ????
Looking forward to EB and very excited to attend the virtual tour.
????❤️
I hope things calm down. {{{{{hugs}}}}
I remember so long ago, I think maybe either Magic Burns or Magic Strikes you needed to get off the internet for a week or so during release. It sounds like you have improved. Maybe someday you will get to the point it doesn’t bother you much at all.
Sending hopes for calm, comfort, and quiet brain thoughts your way. And, a big Thank you for you!
+1!
+1
I can see how the release would be tense. You have to switch to a different mode right when your brain is firing on Ryder, and think about business stuff. And these times are far from normal!
Sorry about the tomatoes. Fresh summertime tomatoes are a pure joy.
I’m sorry you fried yourself, but yay for productive weeks!
I’m sure seeing covid kid relieved one set of worries and gave you another. Congratulations on letting her leave and not locking her up in the house to keep tabs on her. I imagine that was hard. (My kid is 7, so I can still trap her at will. It’s a comfort.)
I almost set you sunflower oil from amazon, but figured that would be creepy. But, it is available.
My mom has had good luck eating the lower acid tomatoes. I can’t remember their name, but they’re yellow. Not quite as tasty as normal tomatoes, but not paying for it later is sometimes worth it.
Take care of you!
I was going to recommend yellow tomatoes too! I know quite a few people that can eat the yellow ones, but not the red ones. ????
Is it creepy? What is their policy on gifts? I’m tempted to do the same
They don’t want us sending them stuff. There’s a post about it somewhere.
I feel you on the brain cells. I work from home for the Social Security Office. All of our locations are closed so we are basically running teleservice. Sometimes by the end of the day I’ve cried several times because people are mean, sometimes its because someone has sad news. If I was a writer, I’d write a funny story about Death working for the SSA. Something that has helped me is your books. There is sadness, but also terrific jokes, and I love the sarcasm. I did recently read a book called The Uninvited, by Dorothy Macardle. It was written in the 40s and had a really good movie done just after it was published. Its on Amazon, but the reason I like it is its just a really good ghost story. Good for fried brains.
We don’t have to worry about tomato sandwiches,the squirrels are decimating our green tomatoes…but we have a ton of cucumbers…..
Without getting too political,the people who focus on the death rate and the curve flattening and think if you don’t die you will be fine are going to hit a brick wall. I doubt the rate of new infections has gone down,I suspect that testing has been deliberately slowed down in TX,AZ and Florida for political reasons, but that even if it is a lot of people are going to find out that it has consequences.I am pretty certain I got it,I normally commute to NYC on bus and subway, and was doing so when it was silently already there. I didn’t have any big symptoms,prob figured it was my sinuses, but I have lingering symptoms,fatigue, and mental fog. My wife got it as well,she had massive fatigue,massive body aches and still has lingering symptoms months down the road ( neither of us has been tested,by the time we could it did matter, and antibody testing is to me not very useful). Prob is those still proclaiming Covid is no big deal, we should just go out and do whatever we would do, are going to find out the real cost of this.
I am sorry that publishing is such stress and trauma, the one thing I can tell you is that that is a sign of just how good you guys are as artists/writers, being the parent of a serious and promising classical musician, that is the sign you are good. I have read pretty much everything you guys have written and none of it goes below the level of great, most is frankly supurb to stunning.
I await the virtual book tour(assuming zoom works for me,it is evil) , and love the Arabella view of Nevada’s giving birth ( yep,I ordered a copy in hardcover!), That should be epic.
Hi Bill,
I have asthma, so the breathing issues were like a 2 week long asthma attack, nothing I did would make it let up. The other symptoms, headache, agonal body aches, etc just had to be rode out. The lingering covid fatigue was like recovering from heat exhaustion every day for 6 weeks. It was so easy to over-do it for such a long time. Walking to the mailbox was too much – the getting shaky, heart pounding, and not certain that you’re going to make it back home kind of bad. For me, the random tachycardia was the scariest part. It became less and less frequent until it faded out.
I strongly urge everyone to wear a mask.
People are political, covid is equal opportunity. And it hurts like hell for longer than you think it should.
Stay healthy BDH.
Sending you warm fuzzies about the release stress. Glad you found some diversion with the new game.
As for the tomatoes, my mom used to love them and ate them like apples whether from her garden or the farmers market. Over time, though, they started upsetting her stomach, too. She found out it was the skin that was causing the trouble, so she peeled them after that and had little trouble. Maybe that’d help you? ????????♀️
Lol, even from far away goat thing looks like it has territory issues. Things that make you go hummmm.
That salad sounds delish. Battling diverticulitis, so every tasty ingredient is a no go. So tired of soft and bland. Thank you in advance for the bribe!
My husband’s aunt had diverticulitis, and her doctor told her to eat apples, with the peels on the apples. Apparently, the pectin that holds the skin to the apples helps hold it all together and it sort of somehow scrapes out all the gunk that gets stuck in those little pockets. It helped her, but ask your doctor before you take advice someone else got from her doctor. Good luck. That pain is bad.
My daughter also has issues with tomatoes. The darker they are the more acid they contain. For raw she can only eat yellow and orange ones, no issues. It won’t hurt to try.
I’ve been suffering from the eyelid twitchies, too. Hugs to you.
I have a hard time with first person games – less so if you can go slow – but I love factorio.
I may have mentioned before but you may enjoy Universim or ECO
Universim is still in beta so only some of the game is ready.
Eco is a lot like minecraft but no dying.
Tomatoes used to do that to me, then I found some species that are not acid, without seeds (or very few), such as the”rose de berne” . Then I remove the skin. As a precaution, I eat them at lunch, not on the evenings. The oxheart are ok too, and the big orange tomatoes. The thing is to remove skin and seeds. Maybe you had always tried that, and then it won’t help you… There’s tomatoes in a lot of recipes, so it can be a big nuisance… I sympathise…
I’m glad your kid is feeling better. Also hope your kid can get back into the labs.
I would be nervous about a book release also, so I totally understand that.
Wow, now that is a scary goat tentacle thing.
Also, after making a self-diagnosis of gastric reflux, I try my best to avoid tomatoes and orange juice (makes me itch also), but I love onions and I can’t (won’t) stop eating them. Usually drinking milk helps me, even almond milk, especially before I go to sleep.
I had to laugh at the “did we write that?” comment. I wrote educational materials for 10 years and had that experience all too many times, particularly when writing under a short deadline. Your brain squeezes it all out and then decides “Heck no! I’m not thinking about that anymore. Not even gonna remember it, nope.”
Sympathies on the stress of a release. Sounds like you’re in limbo until the book drops. No fun. But thank you for your work! Also, glad to hear your daughter is recovering, though slowly. 🙂 The most important things are still the most important things.
Accepting that release time is stressful for you, I believe the book will be wonderful, and I can’t wait to get my eyes on it. And hands. I’ve ordered the ebook cause Amazon won’t deliver my dead tree versions until the 27th. Plus I ordered the hardback for me and a paperback for my sister. We don’t share your books; we each absolutely must have our own copies. Thank you again and again for this wonderful treat. My birthday is mid-month, so it’s a slightly post-birthday present. Nothing can be done or planned the day of the release. Dinner will be carry-out cause I’m not cooking when I have a new Ilona Andrews to enjoy.
Did you know if you give blood they test for (among other things) Covid antibodies? I know nothing beyond that fact, so I don’t know if that matters or not, but if you are not showing symptoms, why not give blood? Donations are down nationwide.
This might sound nuts but…Does aspirin upset your stomach? Because tomatoes have salicylic acid in them. Which is also found in aspirin. Tomatoes will more than likely your upset stomach too.
I can’t take aspirin because it upsets my stomach. I also can’t go crazy with tomato products for the same reason.
Glad to hear that Covid Kid is feeling a little better. Sounds like her energy levels are next to nothing, but that is to be expected. Are Rapid tests easier to get? Because at least in NC getting either test isn’t the problem. Getting results in a timely manner for the 3-5 day test is very problematic. It took 20 days for results to come back. While the Rapid test results were back to me within an hour & a half. They were both Negative. Don’t waste your time/money on the slower test. If I had been positive it would have endangered my co-workers & anyone I’d come in contact with since my doctor only kept me off work for 7 days.
Since you like Satisfactory watch the following playlist, he does the strangest stuff with that game.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrBjj4brdIRwRkGTLKqH5hlS_mlMYn_J0
If you struggle with tomatoes you should probably avoid all of the night shade vegetables. They are all slightly poisonous but most people can tolerate them. Unfortunately, a small minority can’t. Look up the night shade family on the internet. I have a friend with Krone’s disease and she has to stay away from them.
I love Louis Pressler art. I follow her on twitter. Gorgeous stuff.
Glad kid is all better or mostly better. Yes, releases are stressful. Doesn’t matter if you get 5 good reviews right off, doesn’t matter if sales are good or slow. Even with a good cover, there is PLENTY to worry about. What if no one gets the cover? WHat if there is trouble with the downloads? What if Amazon’s site goes down right on release day?
Or nothing specific. Just stressful. But. It will all be great. You are Great. Gordon is Great. The book is Great.
Hope Kid2 continues to improve and you all stay well and healthy. Best wishes for a great book release! I’m very excited and have started my re-read beginning with Burn for Me! Thank you very much for all your hard work! Blessings to you all!
do you ever make Franzuski Salat (French Salad) that was one of my favorites when living in the former Soviet Union. hope you stomach and brain settle down and you can enjoy the relase day somehow. started my reread of the series today … and there are rats in the park around the Horse statute early on in “Burn for me” !!! – don’t think Cornelius was involved but felt like a foreshadowing.
I’ve always wondered about those rats, too. So good to know I’m not alone, thanks!
I am fairly certain worrying about your kids never ever stop. My brothers and his wife is about to have their baby any day now. My brother said mom calls him every day. She is in Nj, he is in Trinidad. He is 45 and wondering if she remembers he is a grown up. She did the same when I lived in Japan and had my last two babies, I told him answer her calls and say keep her in the loop, its her way of showing her love.
Glad you found a game to relieve some stress. Sending good vibes your ways, and stay away from fire-breathing tentacle goats.
Sending my good thoughts on the release. I pre-ordered some time ago so wasn’t paying attention to the release date.
As a long time computer geek, I have to confess that I don’t play computer games. Mostly because I sit down to play for half an hour and look up 3 days later smelling like a sewer, dehydrated and starving. I might get a little sucked in… So I don’t start.
One more health tip: if your muscles are twitching, you’re probably low on calcium or magnesium minerals. Your local health food store or Amazon will have these products as powders that dissolve in warm water that you can drink and then feel better. Good health to you! And thank you for your wonderful books!
Our summer time comfort food is Panzanella salad: fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, onions, olives, and cheese (feta or cotija cheese). Then make fresh croutons with rosemary olive oil bread. Mix all together with red wine vinaigrette and that’s the best meal for a hot day. Totally adaptable if you don’t like one type of veggie. We’ve also added in fresh corn. Yum!
Sending CAli love and proud of you for both venting and taking care of yourself. Now is so stupid hard. We want to chide ourselves by comparing our goodness to their less than and our complaining. My struggles are forgiving myself cutting extra slack daily. Which means I’m at maybe 30 40% efficiency. So not good. But so RIGHT NOW.
I did Network+. Once you get the cert, thereafter you’re just paying something like $60 per year and do continuing credit, or like me and pay it in one lump sum in year 3 and then do an online test, but they tell you the answers you got wrong and let you take it again but they don’t change the order of questions, so it’s easy. So basically after that first cert you’re just paying to keep it active.
Tell her good luck.
I’m waaay too hooked on Satisfactory. Tell your daughter she can program computers _within_ Satisfactory to automate just about everything. Oy.
I am allergic to raw tomatoes. I learned the hard way when I was young. I can eat cooked tomatoes with no problem. My godfather, who was a physician, diagnosed me with being allergic to citronella wax that is inside the tomatoes.
Strawberries are another problem for me raw due to the wax.
I have a scar over my left eye because when my body was reacting to the wax my mom kept telling me not to scratch the bubble that formed over my eye. I didn’t listen and it scarred after healing.
I wish you and Gordon well with all the craziness. 🙂
Love fresh tomatoes myself. Nothing better until they start to cause issues.
Sorry to hear about continuing concerns regarding your Covid kid. Hope she fully recovers soon.
Just so very happy about your new book coming soon.
Thank you
Glad you got to see Covid Child. I’m sure she’s glad too.
Tomatoes have been giving me trouble for some time. After a lot of experimenting, I have found that eating the low-acid gold/orange types in the middle of the day is OK, as long as I don’t lie down within 2-3 hours of eating them. Garlic and onions: not OK. I can just about handle small amounts of chives and garlic chives. So far, this is the worst thing about getting older. So many things I used to love come back to bite me if I eat them now.
you just need to make some bread..you can beat it punch it and chuck it at the table for a hour and it likes it ;] great stress reliever.
Lol!
Right you are! When people ask how I relax I say, “Oh, I bake.” I don’t feel it necessary to admit to committing dough mayhem.
Gardening is my stress reliever. Love planting tomatoes in March indoors then by now I have big plants and lots of tomatoes except not so much thanks to Isaias. I believe the winds blew them into the Atlantic. Oh well. The jalapeños are still doing great and tried making cowboy candy. Smelled great but it’s one of those things you have to wait a month to see if it came out all right. Gardening is patience. Preserving is nerve racking. Now waiting for my purple potatoes to cook.
Your book’s going to do great.
Hope the kids are doing okay and you get some rest.
Have you played no man’s sky beyond? Me and my husband bought it 2 weeks ago and are hooked. You explore multi-universes and mine different planets, build bases, build up your spacecrafts. So much fun. 🙂
I’m very excited about the book. I hope you’re able to relax and refresh after the stress of release week.
FYI: I have seen sunflower oil sold at Target.
I bought GMO free organic sunflower oil on Amazon. I LOVE it.
Can you try yellow tomatoes and see if they don’t cause tummy upset? My aunt is allergic to the red ones, but she can do yellow ones. It might be worth trying if you get to continue delicious (and cool and easy and comforting) summer foods. Hugs to everyone, double to Brandi.
Just wanted to say, “Hang in there, this too will pass.” Also that thing about great artists suffering for their work. Emphasis on the “great artists”, not the suffering.
I used to be an over the road trucker. I play “Assrox Imperium” from time to time, it has a lot of the same elements you talked about in in “Satisfactory” and the traveling between star systems with a GPS set on autopilot is oddly soothing.
No tomatoes oh no. I buy sunflower oil not refined at international store . It tastes like childhood memmories. I do not know if yiu have Trader Jo store but they sell sunflower oil. It does not tastes like the ones from Ukraine or Russia, but it’s not bad .
Hahaha glad you had fun. Now in your speck. We are taking kids 1 to an open unversity day tomorrow.and kid 2 is coming too. It’s a 2 1\2hour drive. From Invercargill to Dunedin. Me I will shop and visit my sister in law.
Please take care of you all! I know it can be tramatic to allow any creative endeavor out to public inspection. Reviews aside, I want my art fans to continue to like my work. I’m very minor league – I can just imagine what it’s like at your level! Thank you for pushing through, I love your work.
Try yellow tomatoes lower in acid. Better for the tummy.
Working in the hospital, I can tell you it is taking people extremely long times to feel kind of normal. Some will never feel normal again because of kidney, liver, all sorts of issues. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, the info is out there. I’m not saying it to scare you, just to make sure kid 2 takes it easy on herself.
My brain has fried, so I’ve taken up a new hobby. Weaving on a small Cricket loom. (by Schatt) I didn’t understand about yarn before I decided to try weaving. I understand now, unfortunately. I say it’s unfortunate, because I can’t find good yarn and may have to order it. I also picked the wrong yarn for the scarf I made. Let’s just say the scarf may have to become a table runner as it’s too scratchy. But, that means, yes… I need more yarn. Lots and lots of yarn. At least I can create a 72 inch long scarf in about 3 days.
Satisfactory is addictive. I also rebuilt every time I got better tech and wanted to reorganize.
Did you know you can jump on the land whale and bounce?
Good luck to the kid on Security+. My advice from A+ and Network+ years ago is lots of to practice test Questions.
My sister also has stomach pains when she eats tomatoes but heirloom tomatoes seem to be fine 🙂
Those pics of the game were cool! Thanks for sharing. I never had much interest in computer games, so I seldom see things like that unless watching sci-fi tv/movies. Whoever knew that a goat tentacle would be so volatile? Lol
I had these bad stomach aches for over a year. One day I was squirming around in the passenger seat unable to get comfortable and my husband forced me to go to urgent care. I hate going to ER and barely tolerate urgent care (being a 911 dispatcher, we don’t ever think we are having an emergency). They put me on Prilosec and said no coffee, citrus etc., for a month. Then I was pregnant with my last baby and was just having mild pain off and on until the last month. I was so sick, I called my OBGYN and they told me it was just heartburn, but I knew what heartburn felt like- I was pregnant. Anyways, after a couple trips to urgent care and scaring my husband-he said I was making more noise and looking like I was in worse pain than when I was in labor-we find out it was gallstones. Most people have lower right ab pain when they have gallstones, but I had it in the center, so my Dr assumed it wasn’t gallstones. I have had a couple of friends since then tell me they also were told they had acid reflux when they really had gallstones.
Lovely to hear from you. I sympathise with your panic about the upcoming release, but I also want the book very much including all the promo stuff you guys do…. so please stay strong!
Cute factory you built, I only know this game from a YouTube channel (let’s game it out) and you can hop over there to find out how not to play the game in a very fun way 😀
https://youtu.be/5vYYhL9Vt8o
I’m glad I don’t like tomatoes much because I’m guessing that would happen to me too. Lately everything makes my digestive system worse.
Spring greens nearly killed me the other day and surely they’re supposed to be healthy eating?
And let’s not talk about my favourite spicy foods – I used to be famous for it in my family but half the time I can’t even swallow them down properly and let’s not even discuss the other half!!
I guess we’d better all stick to porridge, plain toast and caffeine free tea. . . . yeah, right ????????
I just bought more elder scrolls because I am coming to the end of skyrim but this is on my wish list now. Also looks good for my kiddo. Are there spiders? My oldest does not do spiders.
Relax, and enjoy.
In reference to Kid 1’s Security+ issues, as someone who has the Security + certificate, let me tell you CompTia is not a company of Security Experts. It is a company of Education Dabblers with some web designers contracted to build a vaguely secure website that regularly gets hacked. The test questions themselves are developed by people that have gotten the test themselves, but aren’t necessarily experts themselves. I know, because I get invited to contribute several times a year. Unfortunately, the DoD wants everyone in IT to have that certificate anyway.
Aw! [hug] I hope you feel better soon!
On tomatoes, you can substitute winter squash as tomato paste in recipes. Japanese pumpkin comes closest in flavor profile, but butternut or pumpkin can work well enough to go unnoticed, too. I suspect that pan-fried chunks of winter squash might be able to substitute for fresh tomatoes in something, but I haven’t tried doing that yet.
I’m allergic to tomatoes, myself. Apparently it’s part of my grass allergy.
I am completely unaware if this game world. I wish I could watch you build and play. I’m very happy you enjoy it.
Thank you and Gordon for all of your work. Glad you were able to see your recovering kid.
Hahaha… oh my goodness yes. My two tech head kids 24 & 12yrs both play Satisfactory.. I look at it and think “oh pretty”, but then stop when I realise I may need to science or math my way through a problem.
Most days my brain is too frazzled to do either.
I’d be totally twitchy prior to a release also… an awful lot of your own thoughts, time and effort has gone into creating something that you are about to share with a ravaging horde of both fanatics who will just send love… but also others who will judge you. Even if it is supposed to be impersonal, it’s like standing up in front of a crowd and letting them see into your soul. Even if it’s just a bit of your soul, it’s still yours and precious.
Hoping you find comfort food that is kind to your stomach, health for all of yours, an Aced exam for Kid1, and calm moments that let you just breathe.
Thank you, Ilona Andrews, for the posts. Glad kid 1 recovering well. Appreciate the tip on the game. I recently broke my favorite world building game cd when I went to play.
Congratulations on your anniversary the other day. I meant to say that then but my mind forgot.
We had a light earthquake this am so reading your post was great stress relief for me. Mother is still freaking out. I put my foot in it when I said that it was just another 100 year record broken and re established. Sigh
A love of building games is how I’ve lost 1000 hrs to Animal Crossing lol
Growing up Italian means we had tomatoes by the bushel, and I found that when acid got too high, drinking lots of water and eating bread to suck up acid helped a bit. I would suggest that instead of cutting out tomatoes first, you cut out the cucumbers and try some green peppers in that salad. Bread and water and tomatoes go together, though. Your stomach acid and the tomato acid combine, and you need to water it down. Many people suggested low acid tomatoes, and they’re pretty good, but you can include them without throwing out all the reds, too. Just balance them. I’m told milk works better than water, but really — milk with tomatoes? I mean, come on! I never gave up the red tomatoes. Do remove the onions. You can also toss in some green leaves and make the salad easier to digest. It’s all about what you combine with the tomatoes.
The release will go fine. The book will sell like mad. The readers will devour it and leave behind the kinds of comments you need to hear. The critics? Who the hell cares what they think when you’re selling books in a landslide? You’re going to be fine. Forget the release date and think about what comes later, when you write the NEXT book! Ryder is going to be great from what we’ve all read already, but the Hidden Legacy books have hooked us all.
Deep breath, prayers, and get some sleep. You’ll be fine.
I hope it goes well. I’m really looking forward to Emerald Fire. Someone on FB asked for recommendations, and I pumped you, Pat Briggs and Jim Butcher.
Sounds like it’s time for camomile tea and saltine crackers along with scheduled “brain rest” breaks. I prefer oyster crackers as they fit better in a bowl. ???? When I’m stressed or quesy I eat carbs to soak up the stomach acid along with ginger ale or I make a tea with grated ginger and honey. Today’s a ginger ale day. Just spoke to a friend and her daughter came home from their family reunion with Covid. Nobody else has any symptoms and, unfortunately, she has heart and lung problems. Every day I remind myself to be thankful for my many blessings and be happy my health issues are simple and straightforward! When we’re in the middle of a stressful time it’s hard to remember that “This too will pass! “
I’ll take my eye twitching over the no sleeping that I recently got over.
Also, eggplant and tomatoes are coming in from our garden now so fresh and delicious and I can barely tolerate them. But they are so good. So I’m trying slicing eggplant and tossing out as much of the seedy core as I can. Brushing slices with Garlic olive oil and cookung on the grill.
A food mill helps us with the tomatoes but then you only have juice and pulp for marinara but it’s better than nothing! Seeds and skins are not friendly to lots of tummies.
Can’t wait for more Ryder! I didn’t think I’d love it as much as I do!!!
Take care of yourselves!
So happy to hear about Kid 2. I’ve been worried. I hope Kid 1 can get past the website block. What a hassle! I’m glad you found something to play with. Yeah Gordon! Hugs to you all.
I get you with the releases. I’m in a completely different field, and my version is performance reviews. Like you, I’m good at my job. I am easy to work with. I get overwhelmingly positive feedback.
but my last company decided to have our supervisors read the peer comments to us for the first time during the performance review. 3 questions, given to 5 people plus my boss’s comments. I was a wreck by the end of it because it was so much waiting for the other shoe to drop. I later told HR it would be easier to have been yelled at for an hour straight.
Nothing to be done for it – just something unpleasant that must be endured. It basically took away all my coping strategies by putting me in a room with nowhere to hide and nothing to do but sit there and try to remain engaged. on the plus side it was over in an hour.
And for the curious, yes, I am on anxiety meds 🙂 If you think of it anxiety as how filled a cup is, anxiety meds make your cup bigger, but they don’t stop it from overflowing.
Thanks for sharing bits from your real world lives. It’s always intriguing to hear about what’s involved in writing books while also making time for yourselves and family. I’ve been training to be a Census taker for the 2020 Census. They are getting started on this part of the census (going door to door for those who didn’t respond already to the Census) much later in the year than they normally do because of the Covid 19 pandemic. This should be interesting, to say the least.
I’m really anticipating Emerald Blaze, and I wanted to send you a sincere THANK YOU for the wonderful birthday present! (my birthday is the 23rd) I couldn’t wait for August to come around, so I’ve already re-read the Hidden Legacy books back in April, so I’m all caught up with the story, and ready to continue it. My next project is re-reading the Kate Daniel’s books so that I’ll be ready for Ryder. Yipee!
Bless you, darlin’, your release will go fine. Nobody will be injured, traumatized, or be more than slightly inconvenienced. (All of us dropping everything to read the book does annoy our families, who often expect meals, laundry, or similar trivial items. Silly people!)
I know that none of this helps. You are seeing your (brain)child venture out into the world and you want the best for them. No matter how adult or accomplished they are, our children are still our children and we worry.
So, here are some (virtual, platonic, non-infected) hugs. We’ll all look out for your baby because we love them, too, and want them to do well.
If comfort food helps, I’m sorry it’s letting you down with tummy aches. I can’t add to the good advice from others already posted. I am sure that there’s something you can eat that won’t hurt you stomach.
Your game sounds fun. I don’t spend much time with anything but Civilization (VI at the moment), because I get sucked in and forget to move for way too long. Enjoy! I am sure you can use the break and it will do your poor frazzled brain good.
All of you stay as safe as you can. Please. Because we worry about you.
Emerald Blaze… It’s release falls on my birthday, so thank you for my present! It also happens to be released on the National Park Service’s birthday. Fees are waived on that date should anyone like to venture out and visit a National Park…
You mentioned that your eye was twitching and you’re under a lot of stress. Same thing happened to me, but ended up turning into an ocular migraine. Didn’t know there was such a thing. I saw white glowing lines that rotated around – took 2 hours of quiet and cool cloth on my eyes for that episode to go away. All this to say when your eye twitches, relax and apply a cool cloth and take a break.
Love, love all your books! Thank you for all you do!
I am truly sorry there are so many stresses in your life! They could probably be eliminated if you dropped all other series except for INN KEEPER. (she said with a hopeful look on her face, but not expecting it……)
It’s not necessary for all other fans to write and curse me. I KNOW they will not drop your favorite…..
My engineer minded son LOVES that game, and Subnautica. He also really likes Astroneer. You are stranded on a planet, and have to travel to other planets to get things. It is a pretty game with lots of complicated buildy bits.
I am sorry releases are so stressful, and that you have to cut down on tomatoes. Get some rest!
I dream of Satisfactory (current game time 350 hrs), to go vertical you need to setup an Awesome Sink, which gives you coupons that you use in the Awesome Shop, that then allows you to buy walls and other goodies.
Forgot to add two great websites for factory planning.
https://www.satisfactorytools.com/
https://satisfactory-calculator.com/
2 Point Hospital is a fun Hospital building game. Based on Theme Hospital from 20+ years ago.
This post made me so happy. I laughed out loud several times and it made me want
to go play it which is weird since I don’t really like games that much. It was stress relieving just to read it. My husband and I recently bought some property and we’re fixing up the pole building on it to live in. Omg. The stress is real. It’s go to be ready by the end of the month when our apartment lease runs out. Who knew how much could go wrong at any given time or how many parts and pieces go into it. Thanks for putting your awesome books out there. They make me so happy and honestly we all need a little bit of time where we can just pretend everything is ok. Your books do that and it’s even better because I can always relate to the characters. Hell I’m pretty sure they helped me respond to a couple different situations better like oh wait I’ve seen this before I should do this. Who knew you could be an author and a counselor. 🙂
You should be able to get unrefined sunflower seed oil at any health food store. Also, in my supermarket, the health food oils are in a different aisle than the regular cooking oils. Hope that helps!
Just a suggestion, I bought Taylor Swift’s album, “folklore” on Friday and I’ve found I’m actually mellowing out. Don’t know if music helps your brain, but it’s giving me a real good space to walk away from the rotten stuff happening, and I’m grateful. Just passing this on. Hugs and sunshine to you! P.S. I love this album!!
So glad your daughter’s health is improving. Make sure she has lots of rest. Post viral syndrome can’t be underestimated. Sorry about the eye twitch. Same happens to my daughter when she has a lot on. She is a Structural Engineer and is continually working on her computer like you. Looking forward to the “Emerald Blaze” release, Pre- ordered on Amazon. Love your count down meter. Both you and Gordon keep safe and stay well. Same for your daughters.
Awww, hope it’s a better week coming up. I feel like everything is extra stressful with the pandemic, like a stress and trauma amplifier. Corona, the Stressaumplifier. Hope your Covid kid is ok.
The word release sounds relaxing but is misleading, sort of like I thought it would be relaxing after I finished delivering my kids (years ago). It was the implication that after labor (work) is rest and less work but instead I delivered like a champ (all natural babies!) and then got a stress rash during recovery after I returned home with my greatest creation. You are delivering like champs and you pushed that baby- I mean book- into the world and now I imagine you have to worry about the rest of the world and how to make sure it reaches its potential. You guys make amazing ba-books! Congratulations and have a cigar ???? and I would bring you a meal if I lived closer.
(I have problems with the acid in tomatoes and I’ve found the orange tomatoes and purple tomatoes are less acidic and gentler on my stomach. I still feel better if I take a probiotic before eating tomato things like pasta sauce or even barbeque sauce)
That game looks gorgeous! I’m not a huge gamer but my family and I discovered this hilarious YouTube channel called Let’s Game it Out where they test gorgeous and fun games but they test the limits of the games to see what crazy things it allows before it breaks. Huge family stress-relief for us because some of them are hilariously outrageous.
I will leave you with what my mom told me about Vietnamese (which comes from Chinese) traditional self-care after delivering a baby (maybe you can apply to delivering a book): the women/moms are supposed to lie in bed for a month and not do anything strenuous so they can recover fully back to their previous physical health. They are supposed to be waited on by family members and use heat/hot packs and not lift a finger. That sounds really nice! (My mom told me this way after my kids were older ????- Thanks, Mom lol)
What platform do people play these games on? Do I need to invest in a decent gaming PC? I primarily use my iPad for everything. I don’t even own a computer…. *gasp!*
I’ve always enjoyed meat, but with the passing of a lot of years I have become an obligatory carnivore. Anything veg or fruit has to be in very small amounts. Even then there is a fairly high risk probability. Other than cooked green beans, wax beans and asparagus. And I love fruit…fresh corn on the cob. A thing of the past. And I am a compulsive gardener. I have peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers in more than abundance. Any non-gardening neighbor is well supplied. Rosemary and thyme? How much would you like? How about some monster zinnias for a table decoration? So it goes, but at least I can still garden. Sometimes I wonder if I could double for the wicked witch in Hansel and Gretel only with veggies instead of sweets. Pass on nibbling the kiddies though.
I love Satisfactory. It also comes with a time machine in that you’ll look up after 5 minutes and the clock will show 4 hours instead.
If you do YouTube vids on games, check out Katherine of Sky. She’s a wonderful YouTuber on this type of game and she’s so calm and soothing. Lots of Satisfactory content.
I have issues with tomatoes and the prilosec as well. I recently started adding just a little bit of cinnamon to the tomatoes. I don’t know why but it has cut down the acidity and I’m not forced to the prilosec. And I can’t taste the cinnamon. Cinnamon is cheaper than prilosec.
Thank you for the game suggestion. I am loving it so far. Had been playing ESO, and just getting to tired of games with daily log in rewards.
Just a random thought: could it be the onions? There was a huge recall on onions due to salmonella, and that can cause abdominal pain and cramping, so maybe the tomatoes are innocent. I do recommend the heirloom yellow pear tomatoes and the little purple cherry tomatoes. Lots of flavor so you can have the tomato satisfaction in fewer bites!
This might not be an appropriate place for it, but if you are looking for an artist who can draw a map, I know “https://www.sierrabravoart.com/portfolio/” has done them before. She’s really good at world building. So if those other artists don’t work out, check her out!
I’ve learned my lesson on ‘early access’. The three I count as successful investments were ‘Rimworld’, ‘Prison Architect’, and ‘Oxygen Not Included’. Every other early access title I’ve invested in I ended up disappointed in.
As such ‘Satisfactory’ remains on my watch list and it’s staying there until it gets a full release date.
My willpower will prevail.
It will.
I mean it.
Anybody want a peanut?
…
PS : c-drama tip. ‘Dance of the Phoenix’ is a series that started on WeTV yesterday, so two episodes so far. Off to a good start IMHO.
I have been playing with foundation blocks lately. They seem to be self leveling and self supporting so far. I can build a ramp with blocks that go up several levels to clear existing buildings, attach foundation blocks and build a new floor. I have not checked to see how high above the mine site a miner will mine yet. I know they will mine with just one foundation block, but not sure how I might be able to stack them. This is for the game Satisfactory.
????????????‼ Sorry for all that you have to go through to bring us into other worlds, but not sorry! ???? You two create the most incredible books, the kind that I BUY, not get on loan from the library, because I read them again and again. I love your work! Thank you for all that you do!!!
For Sunflower oil, try your local Central Market. The ones in Dallas carry it.
https://centralmarket.com/?post_type=product&s=sunflower+oil
I am a longtime fan. As long as i
remember you never were happy on release.
Time and again the release gives birth to a
NYT bestseller.
But it is stess on you, i understand. HUGS!
NICE game, looks interesting, will look for it.
Please be healthy everyone.
Please
Sounds very stressful, indeed. Do you leave the skin on your tomatoes? I ask because my grandmother had diverticulitis and had to peel tomatoes before she could eat them, and now I have to as well. I really feel it if I don’t – even with one tomato ☹️.
I am really enjoying the Ryder posts and can’t wait for the book.
Keep safe, and take deep breaths.
FYI: The eye twitch is called blepharospasm, occurs when you are either very stressed or very over-tired (or both). Treatment is minimal: 2 mg Valium (diazepam) at bedtime. That’s it. Wake up and the eye twitch will most likely be gone, at least for awhile.
Happens all the time for me when I get stressed out, or have to talk to a very difficult patient on the phone (I hear her voice and my eye twitches, LOL).
About the eye twitching, it’s typical for Mg deficiency. I had it most of my life.
With all the stress and hard work, you have been stretched too thin for far too long. Take a supplement and it will disappear in few days.
Or you can eat unholy quantities of chocolate. Fun, but I don’t recommend it.
Waiting for your book is a sweet sweet torture.