Pips spent the week lazing about being fluffy and adorable. Me, I was BUSY. (more cat pics are at https://patreon.com/kmherkes, follow the blog there for free to get more cuteness faster. Just saying.)

 Big news first: Guess who has a whole first chapter of a new audiobook to review this weekend. ME, THAT'S WHO! And guess who has a draft manuscript of her story collection all printed out on the desk right now. OH YEAH, THAT'S ME TOO!

Not apologizing for the shoutycaps. Audiobook has been 5 years in the making. Hiring a producer has made all the difference.  The amazingly organized, patient, creative whirlwind who's doing the production makes it look effortless too, she really does. Since I KNOW how hard it is,  my appreciation is, y'know, epic. Eternally, endlessly grateful.

Recording is still in the early stages, but getting to the "narrator chosen & first chapter in for vetting" is huge. 

It's also super-exciting to reach the point where my story collection exists as a Real Thing I can share with other humans.  It's a big relief, too, to be honest. Collating files written across two decades and four different word processing programs was...I'll call it a challenge and leave it at that.

Once the archival recovery and file conversion parts were done, once I had everything collected into a single consistent, modern document format, I still had to:

• fix typos & make other textual corrections
• set up the document styles for proper export
• write story introductions
• decide what reading order the stories should go in (it matters! It really, REALLY matters!)
• upload everything into the format-for-publication program 
• give the project a working title (Relics From A Traveling Show: Sixteen Stories)
• pick a book style, font, print settings & all the other fiddly elemental details
• review all the book elements & correct any upload mistakes
• find thematically suitable & also public-domain decorative images for the book interior
• write copyright attribution entries for all the stories that originally appeared in other publications. (ZOMG what a PITA. Where do the commas go? What gets italicized? Can anything be abbreviated?UGH.) 

Now all that's done, and behold, it exists!   

There's a couple of rounds of analysis and editing still to come, but now, it's Cover Art Time!

I have indulged in a first round of design ideas, so I have something to discuss with an artist. I'd love to know if any of these ideas appeal, or if you have visual ideas of your own. (Got an artist/cover designer to recommend? Now's the time for that too!)

The design mockups are free to view here:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAF8sgj9Hxg/gYCD_GOv7uYYD9uAgUkFCQ/view?utm_content=DAF8sgj9Hxg&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=editor

I did say it was busy week, right? But I'm not done listing shit yet!

 I did a lot of Playing House Stuff, too.

• 5 loads of Laundry
• Changed out all the toner cartridges in the office printer.
• Made soup enough for 5 nights (yay for freezer!)
• Made jello because yes, I am a weirdo who likes to eat jello on purpose, but only old fashioned from-a-box-with-extra gelatin kind.
• BAKED COOKIES. Two kinds. Because the oven is fixed, whee.
• Removed a set of 30-year-old janky closet doors that haven't been closed in months because I started using that part of the room as a napping spot.
• Researched mattresses online and ordered one for the napping nook.
• did dull but necessary Tax & Finance stuff.

Okay, now that's it's all written out, I feel a lot better about how damned tired I am right now. 

Somewhere in there I also watched the latest season of For All Mankind, and all of the Netflix live action One Piece series. I am now embarking on the 20+ seasons of the One Piece anime, because it's my new obsession and I'm not even sorry.

And that's a wrap for this week's life listing. Until later!