So we finished the “novella” project. It was supposed to be a 20K story. It is now 40K. I am not sure what reaction this will produce on the editorial end. Once we have more details, a cover, and a preorder link, I will let you know more.
We are pivoting back trying to take another stab at Ruby Fever. I still violently hate it, but we shook on it and the readers are waiting for it, so I need to stop being wishy washy on it and just make it happen.
Make it happen.
Hopefully I have more success than Osaka. If we make no reasonable progress in the next month or two, we will do something else.
I’m in this weird position where we have things happening, but none of them are at the stage where we can introduce them to you.
On the ordinary life side of things, we had hail the size of small apricots last night. It was so loud and scary, that our oldest cat, who hunts snakes for fun and is afraid of nothing, actually screamed in alarm.
Today is wet and grey and that’s how this whole spring has been. Bleah.
We’re both getting our second shots in early may hopefully. I have never been that excited about syringes, let me tell you. I’m slowly rebounding. I managed to work out sessions this week. We bought new appliances for the Kid 2’s house. We are in the process of trying to get it painted. I have a feeling that the people who owned it worked in construction and must’ve gotten remainder paint, because the entire house is painted light pastel pink. The walls, the baseboards, everything. We need to figure that out.
So tell me about your plans. Once the pandemic is controlled, where do you plan on going? What do you plan on doing?
Once the pandemic is controlled. I’m hoping that I can visit my family in Australia.
We have A LOT of family commitment type trips. Help bro-in-law with his house in Tampa. Another trip is moving truck inheritance stuff from PA to NC (wheeee). Attempt a family vacay in North Florida. Attempt another fam get together that involves a sketchy cabin in Pigeon Forge. Last time we stayed near here, there were copious nighttime gunshots from the bonfire party down the road. Not. A. Fan. Got my second Pfizer shot yesterday and so far feeling fine. Power on and get it done!!
I am fully vaccinated and in a month am going to my great nephews 1st birthday party. In October, I’m going to Charlotte, NC to see my nephew graduate from Fire academy. That was always his dream job and I’m very proud that he made the decision to go with what he loves instead of what he hates but pays better. For the future, I missed out on a cruise up the coast and down the St Lawrence River in Canada due to the pandemic and a knee that needed surgery, so I will start planning that for fall 2022.
Back in late January or early February of 2020 the wife & I pulled money out of my 401K for a bucket list trip to Banff originally scheduled for July of last year. Canada’s border lockdown forced us to reschedule for July of this year, and now even that’s looking pretty iffy. Wife and I are in our 70s; hope we get to Banff other than as ghosts.
Considering that the two of us are fully vaccinated and that the medical profession now knows how to treat COVID-19, which they didn’t this time last year, it seems more than a bit overblown to keep whole states locked down and the Canadian border closed.
Things I can’t wait for:
Ruby Fever (I hope you can carve out a good-sized role for Arabella)
Arabella’s trilogy
More Dina and Maud
More Hugh and Elara
Lots more Julie and Derek
Write what you feel like writing, subject to agreements with your publishers. I don’t think I am in any way atypical of your readers and there’s lots that can keep us happy.
+1
Happy one of the projects is finished, nothing like tgat sweet feeling you get when you risk one less thing to do on a list. When the pandemic ends I just want to see my family and friends and hug them. Sadly I don’t believe I’ll be able to be vaccinated until next year.
Disneyland reopened today, with a 25% capacity cap. I’m not normally a Disneyland afficianado, but I’d pay double to be able to wander the park with that much less other people in attendance.
I did Disney world at that cap. It’s amazing. It will be very hard to go back at normal numbers.
Anywhere, doing anything. So happy to get out of the house!!! Need to start planning a trip. It’s been so long!
We are in North Texas, our hail was not as large as yours, but it was crazy. We have had our shots and in the fall or spring want to take a river boat cruise in Europe somewhere.
The first thing is a trip to Chicago with Mom but the big one is for New Years. My nephew and I are going to Kakslauttenen above the Arctic Circle in Finland for NYE plus a couple nights to see the Northern Lights. Then going to Helsinki for a few more days.
Kakslauttenen has been on my bucket list for years. I can’t wait!!
Last summer I had to cancel a booked trip to Boston (they were going to have a really cool Egyptian exhibit there). That obviously was canceled and I reused the points for a Seattle / Portland / Bridal Veil Falls / Astoria / Leavenworth road trip (fly into Seattle and drive around Oregon and Washington. I have done this trip several times before and it is a neat little road trip. I am going with my adult son. We are both vaccinated. I have been following the news and it appeared Oregon has had a huge influx and has shut everything down. I have the time off of work and so does my son. I live in Colorado, and going on a Colorado road trip in May isn’t the best idea because there may still be blizzards at the end of May (I know this because I grew up in the mountains and both proms we had to drive in a blizzard). I talked with my son and he asked about Washington DC, which is a huge flip. I looked and they are doing well, things are open.
Long story. That is where we are headed. I rebooked the hotels and flights. Maybe take the train up to NYC for a day.
At the end of summer, I want to hike up the top of a 14r. I have never hiked to the top of one. I always enjoyed hiking in the trees too much. But… I put it on my bucket list, now I need to get my thighs in shape for that.
Martha
Why do you violently hate it?
Paraphrasing some advice I heard Jos Wheaton give once that has worked for me in all kinds of ways was, “If a (script) just isn’t working, take the scene you love the most and throw it out, because, no matter how good it is, that’s probably the thing that is in the way. You’re adjusting everything else fruitlessly in the effort to keep it.”
Over time I’ve found that advice works everywhere–writing, painting, sewing, knitting, gardening, etc.
I am a fully vaccinated teacher and as soon as school is out I am leaving on an adventure! I will be exploring beautiful springs and exquisite caves all over Southern Missouri and Arkansas. The Ozarks, sigh, so pretty. I am also excited about my lodging choices for this road trip. They vary from spring side lodges, to magical cottages. This will definitely be a trip to remember!
I am selling my house and buying an older RV and doing what ever else crosses my mind…which could be a lot or very little. I am tired of the accumulations of a lifetime and shedding as much as possible, giving it away to my kids and friends or garage sells and if nothing else works a dumpster. I hope that frees me up to live the rest of my life my way. I am 67 years old and still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. At this rate it doesn’t even matter as long as it brings me peace and joy. Thank you for all you do for your fans.
Fan for life
Our house had battleship grey primer on every room in house. Go figure! My parents had purchased a home where every room was painted turquoise!
Looking forward to any of your books and blogs/newsletters ! I still get hysterical laughing at the image of the Rumba gone wild and flinging “stuff” all over.
It’s been a difficult year for me and I just want to relax!
ooo we toured a house when we were hunting for SOMETHING in our price range that I felt so positive about until we hit the kitchen. All I remember is a blur of turquoise. Counters, cabinets, curtains bright bright turquoise. Tried to talk myself into it but ….
My 10 year wedding anniversary is this fall and I’ve been secretly stashing away savings for a surprise Europe trip for my husband and I! We’re both fully vaccinated and haven’t been on a vacation in…well, ever! I haven’t made any concrete plans and we probably won’t get a chance to go until this time next year, but I’m so excited! His family is from Ireland but he’s never been so that’s definitely one stop. Three kids 6 and under ARE NOT invited!
I like to camp, kayak, and hike, so the pandemic didn’t really effect either of those things where I live. We can do all of it within our county and state. Our population density is so low there are more cows than people. Sorry about your hail storm. We occasionally get that kind of storm here and it’s terrifying. Congratulations on completing the novella! Some of the best days of my year are when your work hits the market. Lots of luck with the second shot-I hear it can be a doozy for some people. I went with the J&J vaccine. One and done.
I’m hoping to travel overseas, anywhere really, but Vietnam is currently top of my bucket list.
More locally, I’m looking forward to signing up for lessons at a local pottery studio once I get my second shot.
Weird weather! Here in the western side of MI we are having a mild drought. Huh!
I’d like to see my son. He’s in the Navy and it’s been 2 years since I saw him last. I’m also driving from SC to Tampa to see friends.
Going to CO in August and then CA and Oregon in September.
Red woods and Crater lake!
We are flying for both trips!!!
We did several road trips last year and they were great.
Highly recommend Big Bend national park. Amazing!
Nothing so exciting as leaving the state. Excited that our closest friends have all received their second vaccinations! So we look forward to take out from Lemon Grass (our favorite local Thai restaurant), meeting at a friends’ back yard for a beautiful Minnesota (81 and sunny) Saturday afternoon and evening with adult libations for the first time since November! And maybe a bon fire if we manage to stay awake that long.
Escape rooms, escape rooms, escape rooms. It’s time and I need my puzzle hunt back in my life.
Also, we have a cruise booked (we booked in 2019 i swear! 1st case of covid wasn’t until december that year!) in Europe to see the christmas villages. I NEED this trip to actually happen. Come on vaccinations world-wide go go go.
I am going to see my perfect, perfect grandson and granddaughter in Louisiana.
Congratulations! I am so happy for you!
Lots of photo adventures for me, I’m now fully vaccinated and already started my post pandemic adventures. I had some workshops I signed up for in 2019, postponed to this year My first one was this past March in the Big Bend region of Texas, and some are coming up next month.
Here’s a shot of Mule Ears from Big Bend National Park at sunrise. ^_^
Thank you for asking about post-Covid plans, because it makes me happy to think about: I am going to hug people! Not people who don’t want to be hugged; I mean, I won’t go around glomping onto strangers, but I want to hug the people I’ve been missing! They are precious and wonderful and I want to see and talk with them in person. I hope everyone has something good waiting for them at the end of this thing.
Just did a week at Lake LBJ (in Texas) with a bunch of cousins and my 90 year old aunt and uncle. All of us are older and had been in the first to be vaccinated. So good to hug then all!
I’m so sorry you hate what you’re working on; it must make things so much harder. Invest in good primer for the pink paint-maybe the previous owner was colorblind.
Yay! Congratulations! It must feel like such a relief and an accomplishment after this last year. I personally will read anything you two write and am not concerned about Ruby Fever. Quite frankly The Edge and Innkeeper world is my favorite and I would love an Edger update. I really want to know what is going on with the younger set.
No pressure! We want happy writers. Outside of goodwill towards you, if it isn’t a pleasure for you to write it will show up in the work.
Exactly !! Couldn’t agree more.
A bit off topic, but, since you posted an anime, may I suggest one that will definitely make you laugh, may possibly relieve some stress, & has very short episodes? It’s called, “Way of the Househusband” and it’s available on Netflix. I’ve been having a difficult time lately due to Covid related fallout, & watching this cheered me up (if only for a moment, but I’m glad for that brief respite). I’ve even ordered the manga it is based on.
Highly recommend.
Once I can travel again (hopefully mid June) and having had my second shot I hope to go and see my daughter and grandchildren in Ireland who I haven’t seen since January 2020 – it’ll be amazing! Your books have helped a lot- they’re so good
I am so looking forward to eating out in a restaurant with my husband without feeling like I should be wearing a mask WHILE eating (not that that’s possible)! And a trip to Louisiana to see my sister when she finally buys her house down there. Just the chance to visit family and HUG them again! It’s the little things I miss most.
We’re just looking forward to eating out in restaurants again and being able to relax through the meal.
I’m weirded out a bit getting together with friends (all of us are fully vaccinated) and being able to see smiles. And hugging!!! Who have thought I would have retrain myself to act “normal” again!?
When you have such a passion for writing, it must be so difficult to finish a book you hate. I’m sorry to hear that some readers are unhappy with Catalina but they have to be a teeny weeny tiny minority, essentially signifying nothing.
Your BDH is behind you whatever you decide and how ever long it takes.????
I am so excited to
#1 visit the fancy yarn shop in person
#2 get my hair professionally done and
#3 sit outside on patios and visit with my friends
During the pandemic, for the last year, I’ve been learning German. My goal now is to go to Germany and stay there for 2 to 3 months and try and immerse myself into the language, and possibly take a class over there as well.
Why do you hate Ruby Fever? As for us, we have a 4 night trip to Bend Oregon at the end of May, we booked it in January hoping for the shots which we got. We have a 3 week trip to Reno and Las Vegas (condo) for friends and family to visit and catch up with us. While we do gamble (me) we plan on trips to Red Rock Canyon again (4th time) and Valley of Fire (last time I was there was in the early 1980’s). I am hoping for another trip in July to Windsor/Santa Rosa California through the Redwoods. Fingers crossed no wildfires.
I get my second shot mid May, and sometime in June I’m going to go see my mom since we’ll all be fully vaccinated. We’ll probably go out to dinner and maybe do some shopping, none of which we’ve been able to do together since black friday ’19. I talk to her and my brothers frequently on the phone, but it’s not the same.
My post pandemic plans are not a lot different from my pre-pandemic plans. I will continue to work from home (I was before, during, and probably will long after) because it is my favorite way to work. I set my own schedule, I select (within reason) my projects, and I can take time out for graduations (my two youngest grandkids), mowing the lawn and tending garden beds (which do figure into the projects), and do not have to justify myself to Anyone if I need to take a day just to lie down and read books. There’s a good chance that some of the books will be from House Andrews.
Thats a Lot of pink.
We are heading to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons in August. Can not wait for that road trip.
I get my second shot today (woohoo!) and once the pandemic is controlled I will still be stuck in my office at work because I haven’t earned any vacation yet 🙁 But hopefully my sisters and I will be attending BABE in Australia 2023, plus staying a bit longer to explore. There’s three of us, and I, like Catalina, am the middle child. I live vicariously through her and I know its giving you trouble now but wherever you decide to take her next is going to be just as amazing as the rest of the Baylor family’s stories.
Plus, the allusion of any and all potential projects to come from House Andrews keeps me occupied with endless plot theories, so at least I won’t be bored in the mean time.
The day my husband and I got our second shots we booked a week in Mexico for late May. Being in our mid 70’s we always get travel insurance that gives us a full refund if we cannot go. I need me some beach!!
We also had to cancel our 50th wedding anniversary gift of a month in Italy. We’re hoping to go as soon as Italy is pandemic free.
Thank you for working on a project that will make the BDH very happy but doesn’t make you happy.
Southern California has had two incidences of high summer in the middle of spring. It’s currently 84° outside. Sounds nice except I do kid school pickup which means I sit in the car, in the sun, for 1 hr & 30 mins. Running the AC all that time burns thru my gas quick-like. Which has gone back to pre-Covid prices.
I’m flying to St. Louis on June 4th for 9 days. Gonna celebrate my great nephew’s HS graduation and my 65th Bday. Gonna be fun!
There’s two restaurants on my post Covid list. The first is Piro’s in Methuen. Rice balls to die for and cases of amazing pastries. The second is the Bleu Squid in Mystic, home of the best snickerdoodle cupcakes in existence. I’ve behaved myself and not left Maine since this started, but I’m counting down the days. 🙂
Also, I’m so sorry that you’ve gotten crap about Catalina. I’ve really enjoyed her perspective and personality, and re-read her stories several times. I hope you can find enjoyment in those stories again.
Camping in Wyoming where we live. Our drift boat will be ready for pick up mid-July and then exploring Class 1 rivers in our region. I am looking forward to navigating the Big Hole River which passes by the towns of Wise River and Wisdom, Montana. The names tickle me.
I hope you have some contractual flexibility to take your time with Ruby – not George Martin flexibility, you understand, but this isn’t some production line that you can flip on and off with a switch – it’s better that you and Gordon write motivated than obligated. The BDH will devour it whenever it comes.
I’ve been lucky enough to book an “un-cruise” in Alaska at the end of May. https://uncruise-alaska.com/ If anyone is interested in checking it out.
I’m hoping to go to Bali at the end of August with a women’s traveling group. Not sure if international travel will be open by then. Keeping my fingers crossed.
I retired in February and was fully vaccinated in April. Travel and reading are my hobbies.
I’ve re-listened to all of the Ilona Andrew’s books in the last few months and I’m really looking forward to anything new that comes out
Good luck with all of your projects. You are appreciated
My family and I lived in Alaska for many years. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth . Take your time and stay out of Anchorage, and Wasilla, as much as possible. We say,”Alaskan is 20 minutes outside of Anchorage “. Enjoy and pack rain gear.
I want to see my mother. She is 95 today, does not hear well, and I only get a few words with her this afternoon on the phone. She may remember tomorrow that I called. We have both had both shots (Weird system of vax distribution here in Ontario, Canada) but live 150 miles apart and my brother tends to just go to her without asking if I want to go too…families? I have not seen her for about a year and a half, she is forgetting.
Just as the pandemic started, one entire end of our house went dark. I am pretty handy with fixing things, and a plug stopped giving electricity, so I flipped the breaker off, and as I removed the old plug, breaker tripped, no power supposed to be there, the blasted thing tried to electrocute me. I’m not playing with wires that are supposed to be dead and aren’t. But we couldn’t have anyone come in and rewire the house during the pandemic, then I found out about the stupid cancer and went into treatment for that, and the pandemic raged on, so the entire end of the house has been sans power all this time. The instant I am well enough again to have someone in here to repair the entire wiring in the house at that end of it, I will do that. The living room and dining room are all on one breaker because we live where there are no rules about what can be done to build a house and the guy who paid to have this house built was clueless and let the builder do whatever he wanted to do without a thought to proper process in wiring and how much power should go through one breaker at a time. Not to mention that in order for what happened to have happened, wires are crossed up in that attic where I’m not going to crawl around! So, number one — rewire my house. I live in terror of an electrical fire with things messy the way they are.
We are vaccinated since early March, being old and getting the one-shot vaccine, but chemo makes me immuno-compromised, so I will have to wear masks for long months to come. Fine. I can deal. But it will be nice to see our children again, when it’s safe to go where they refuse to be vaccinated. Yes, one of my children is refusing the vaccine for the household. Give me strength to not scream! The other child will be able to visit us soon, I hope, when the vaccine is two weeks in and done.
Next week, I will have one cataract removed, and two weeks later, I’ll have the other one removed. Then I’ll heal and get glasses for astigmatism and bifocals and photo gray to block glaring sun so the migraines don’t hit, and be able to see clearly again. Very exciting. It’s hard to read when your eyes don’t both focus properly.
Just as all the eye business comes to an end, I will find out if the current chemo is keeping the tumors in check. If not, we have to try something else, but if so, I will continue on this path. There is no cure for this type of cancer, but keeping the tumors from growing will keep it from killing me for a while.
I am disappointed that Ruby Fever is giving you problems. I love the world of the Baylor family, and I wish I could imagine where the book will go, but I have no such imagination and have to wait it out. There is so much up in the air there that I’m sure it’s very difficult to juggle everything and make it work out. It’s a very complicated world, and I’m sure it’s just getting more so, but you’ve always had a way with making your worlds work, so I guess I just assumed you were doing fine with it all, knowing where you were going and how to get there. And it’s exciting that you have produced a entire novella for us soon to come. Without a single clue what it is about, I’m sure it’ll be a good read. I am confident that I will be entertained by whatever it is that you decided to write. History does tend to repeat itself, after all.
Above all else, take care of yourself. Between the new house, the pandemic, and your physical ailments, you need to get some rest. Take some. The important thing to do is to stay alive and well. Trust me on that one.
+1❣️
Going to New York to visit my mom. I hadn’t seen her for 1 1/2 years. Was going right before Covid hit and since my parents are elderly I didn’t want to take any chances. I’m a mailman and have had constant contact with the public.
I would like to do simple things like go to restaurants and shops. But we live near Orlando, where there are still a lot of new cases. The big parks are completely open which means the airport is wide open too, and people are poring in from all over the world. And the cases just keep rising, and “Normal” keeps getting farther away.
I doubt we will see anything like normal again this year.
Why does everyone think everything’s safe to get back to normal now, as there are more cases and more strains than ever. Our HOA has just lifted mask requirements at the club house even though about 10% of home owners in our section have contracted “Rona” and all residents in our 100-or-so development are at-riskers. None of the H.O.A.’s volunteers to deliver newsletters have ever approached my door wearing a mask. Masks keep you safe from getting all kinds of air-born diseases. So why is it so hard to do your part to protect your family and neighbors.