It’s Saturday, and I’ve had my tea (Harney & Sons Vanilla) and my breakfast shake. Sookie, the old bulldog, is snoring on the pillow behind me. Tuna is asleep next to her, Tubby is sacked out on the floor with his ball, and Nykie is having a cat moment. Perhaps because she is part dachshund or perhaps because she was raised with Tuna as a puppy, she occasionally decides that she is a kitty.
Waking up in the morning is hard work. Everyone had to take a restorative nap, heh.
The last couple of weeks were kind of odd schedule-wise. The surgery, the recovery, then we had an event on Wednesday. We met Jasmine Mas and her husband, who were both gracious and charming. We also managed to have a dinner with Jessie Mihalik and her husband. And I was gifted a gorgeous ARC of SILVER & BLOOD.
Luisa Preissler painted the cover. I love it so much, because it has that hint of a slightly retro feel but in a very current, cool way. It matches the book. If you want one, Jessie is running a giveaway on her blog.
Most writers have a routine. Mine is very straight forward. Get up, drink a cup of tea, work out, make a shake, catch up on emails, figure out the dinner and thaw the meat out, work with Gordon until 4:00 pm or so, make dinner, then eat and have off time. In a way, it’s life on rails, but when we are deep into the first draft, the less distractions the better. The next week we’ll lose at least a day of work for sure, so today I need to be productive.
I play this game, Grounded 2, where you are shrunk to a small size and end up in a park, fighting bugs. You can ride ants and spiders, and when your mount runs out of energy, my little avatar says, “Let’s reestablish homeostasis.” This is me right now, reestablishing a little bit.
We had a nice, relaxed Halloween. My one week eye appointment went well. The doctor is happy, and my right eye is scheduled for surgery this Tuesday. I’m looking forward to the surgery because my brain is so confused by different focus right now that it thinks there is an obstruction in my right eye.
My multifocal lens finally kicked in, and I can now read the text on my phone. I still bought a pair of reader glasses on Amazon and they work great for very close up stuff. I can probably cross-stitch again with these. Not that I have time.
By the way, I purchased 5 pairs of reader glasses. For $15. The frames are not only prettier than my very expensive prescription frames but they have the flexible joints and all the bells and whistles. ::side eyes the optometrist store:: Why did I pay 10 times as much for a pair of frames that rips out my hair?
I’m in a weird place, emotionally and creatively. It’s probably just the uncertainty of the upcoming release nipping at me. There is a point in every book’s journey when you have to let go. You’ve written the manuscript, you’ve edited it, and it is now out of your hands. It will do what it will do. But no matter how many books you’ve published, this feeling is always disconcerting. It’s this vague, anxious limbo, and you are floating in it not knowing if you’ve achieved what you’ve set out to do or if your work will fall flat on its face.
Tor has been an amazing publishing partner, and there is an entire team working very hard to bring this book to publication. This Kingdom is in excellent hands. But the self-imposed pressure and doubt are still there. I’ve made peace with it. It is just part of the process now.
My mission for today is to tweak the dialogue in a few pivotal scenes. We met our 10K for the week, but when this is a complex book, both politically and romantically, and we are getting it down in broad strokes, which then have to be fine-tuned. I imagine that’s how artists must feel when they go back to their painting to enhance contrast, deepening shadows and adding highlights. I’d snippet, but Tor asked us not to, so you will just have to w*it.
I will share more news when time comes. I wish you a happy, calm weekend.
first?
Thank you for the fur kid pictures! I personally think these posts of life are fun to read.
I hope your next eye surgery goes well. I’m right there with you on the cost of annoying prescription frames. I now buy mine from Costco so they don’t break the bank as mach, but the frame options are still so disappointing.
The cover of the book is so beautiful. I’ve really enjoyed Jessie’s books since I found out about her from your blog.
Wishing you all a happy and productive weekend. The horde will try to wait for Maggie patiently. 😜
We all know the baby book is going to fly up into the bestseller trees. You can rely on the horde 😉
Hoping you have a calm weekend, and that the second surgery is even better than the first!
I too love the furry pictures. My best friend had a Parson Jack Russel type who also shared a house with bigger dogs and who chose the back of sofas to nap on. Preferably who one of her chosen humans in front, so I have a lovely picture of my husband with her chin on his shoulder, he also has one of our dogs on either side, chins on his legs, plus a spaniel dog on top of our Shepherd (!); to top that all off he is wearing a t-shirt with a large picture of a wolf on it. It looks like he is covered in dogs and I love it because he looks so happy.
1st November is the start of Winter for us Irish. I hope you get the time to hibernate a little bit.
Best of luck with your surgery.
Fur babies!! All hanging out with their Mom, glad that things are back to regular life rhythms.
And yeah, what’s with reading glasses being cute, and regular old lived-with-them-for-fifty-years glasses were only sturdy and not cute?!
Here’s to happy, calm weekends!!
I’m glad to hear the multi focal lens is working!
I was discouraged by my doctor to get them but that was many years ago and I’m sure they have improved.
You are spot on about readers – so many pretty and cheaper ones than those at the optometrist!
Man I feel that on the expensive glasses thing… I have a pair of frames that I really like and they’ve held up really well, but my prescription has changed. Went to LensCrafters to see about getting new lenses in them. $575. Uhhhhhh no thanks, I’ll stick with the $160 dollar ones I got online.
I go for my left cataract removal in a couple of weeks and choose the multi-focal. I was at my grandson’s baseball game today and even with glasses couldn’t tell who was who on the field. I’m really hopeful that next season I’ll be able to recognize him! Glad things are going well. Homeostasis is the best.
Happy and calm is the best wish right now!!!
Do you have a different routine for Sundays? I am asking because you work from home,do you have more elaborate plans for dinner? do you meet with friends or family?
Or is it just another day??
As for the upcoming release, I am so excited!!! I have zero doubts of the huge success!!!
It sounds like a nice calm day. I hope the surgery goes well. You know what to expect, so hopefully it helps with any worries. Your writing skills-story, world building is a proven skill. Your books just get better and better. March can’t come soon enough!
Waiting,mostly chalant,but also anxious because I am old.
I had lasik on both eyes years ago w/different prescriptions in each eye and had cataract surgery in only one eye! I find my depth perception is a little wonky but overall I didn’t even need readers for a long time. Best of luck on the surgery.
Such a nice post for a Saturday! The fur babies are so precious.
That cover IS beautiful!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
I moved states recently, and just before I sold my house I had my annual eye exam. The doctor said I need to find a doctor in my new state and have him run some tests for glaucoma because he was worried about one of my eyes. So I’ve had low level anxiety the last 2 months that ramped up when I tried to schedule an appointment and the local doctors were all booked until next year. Then one of them suggested I try another practice that had more doctors. They’re 40 minutes away but had an opening this week. Luckily, he said my eyes were fine.
There are times I envy animals because they don’t worry about the future. But boy can we humans scare ourselves.
Glad your surgery turned out ok.
I buy my glasses online these days with the information the eye doctor gives me. So many more choices for less money. I have reading glasses from Amazon too and they are very pretty.
I just know you’re going to love having both eyes seeing full color unobstructed!
I’m so glad your surgery went well. Another week and you will have balanced vision! Gerardo bought ‘light readers’ on Amazon. They’re working well for him. I’m still coming to terms with being able to buy glasses online for such a low price. I think he paid $17-18 for two pair. I think the optical stores are in trouble. I hope you enjoy your rest. 🙂
I had my multifocal implants done one day apart. I was a bit blurry for a few days but my sister is an amazing ophthalmologist and I’m so glad I didn’t have to go through the weird vision mismatch. You will be so happy when they’re both firing on all cylinders! You will still have halos on bright lights but otherwise mine are perfect 👌
Today on my walk I saw that the Saturday Sword Club (my name for them, I don’t know who they really are) is back practicing in the park. I have seen rapiers in the past but today it was broadswords. They had the rack all set up and were paired up to practice. I’ve decided the rack can be raised and lowered like at Dina’s inn and one of them is not like the others. This actually makes me get out of bed to walk while they are there. Working up the nerve to go talk to them. I’m scared one of them will be Lady Ilemina.
Miss B2U, let us hope Gordon and Ilona have a scene in a future Innkeeper book where the Krahrs visit the Inn and Lady Ilemina, Karat, Maud etc decide to have a Ladies’ Communal using the practice weapons. I can see Gertrude Hunt becoming a destination vacation Inn for vampires who want to use the practice weapons gifted to an Earth Inn by the granddaughter of Olasard, Ripper of Souls!
You’ve inspired me to go back and listen to Sweep of the Heart. I’ve finished listening to The Inheritance which is fast becoming a favourite reread/ relisten.
Ilona, I understand your concerns re Kingdom as you have put so much thought and effort into creating a new world but I’m confident you will have another best selling winner on your hands. All the hard work you have done over the last several years to practice and refine your craft is paying off because even when you decide to write a fun project for your faithful readers ( eg Fated Blades, The Inheritance) it becomes a best seller. Let’s all hope Tor are able to help you reach an even wider audience whom we will welcome into the BDH membership.
Hugs….