Busy season begins
I know it isn't the beginning of the year, but it feels that way. January 1 may be the traditional European New Year, but my life annually gets a burst of fresh energy and turns in new directions in autumn—at the start of the “school year” to be specific. 2025 looks to be no exception.
Events are piling up one right after another. I have something going on every weekend between now and Thanksgiving. That’s a good thing! Really! A lot of it is family stuff, with more family than usual in town thanks to a niece about to become a mom. One of the events will be a family game night at Herkes House, which should be a blast.
Speaking of Herkes House, last Friday’s BYOBOW open house went even better than the first. Frozen custard and stromboli appeared, Minecraft was played downstairs while quiet work happened upstairs, computer repairs got done, also some writing, and movie watching.
Next BYOBOWOH is on the calendar for October 24. filling in the gap between a football weekend and an extra work shift weekend. Like I said earlier, it’s getting busy out there.
The Goshdarned Good Authors dealer room application for Windycon got approved, so I will officially be selling books there. The con is in Oakbrook Illinois the first weekend in November. No word yet on whether I’ll be on programming, but I did send in my interest survey, so, fingers crossed.
Lessee, what are some other things going on....
Ah! I forgot to mention this several posts in a rowA few weeks ago a friend texted out of the blue to ask if I had books to sell on hand at home (hahahahahahahaha yes of course, pile of 'em) Before I knew it, she was visiting with a niece who was a scifi fan and had never met A Live Author (tm) She was exceedingly excited to buy my books, and not gonna lie, that was a bemusing but highly thrilling experience for me.
Another happy thing. I’m almost at the point of asking for email alpha readers on my two current projects, both the cozy ghost mystery and the random Rollover story that won’t leave my brain alone. Emailing scenes to people and getting feedback the same way helps me maintain momentum forward rather than tinkering with already-written words, and also serves as an important, “someone is waiting for this” pseudo-deadline pressure.
The hitch is that I’m not sure anyone who did that for me in the past is still interested. I’m only almost ready to ask because it’s a big commitment—too long of a turnaround in reading time and it goes from helpful to triggering ADHD wait mode, which is a drawback, not a benefit—and I don’t want anyone to feel pressured.
Or, in short, I’m overthinking things like a champion, as usual.
A final positive element is that I’ve kept up with my new reading & watching page for two whole weeks now, and I’ve gotten more writing done in the last month than in the prior two, so it appears the new focus strategies are working as hoped. It’ll be interesting to see how things hold up with the outside pressure of Constant Schedule Disruption. I’m feeling pretty good about it. This week will be the first big test. Lots of meetings going on, tomorrow through the weekend, so my time won’t be my own, and I’ll have to fit in writing around a busy schedule.
Wish me luck!
Oh, one last thing. Cat Pics. CAN’T FORGET THOSE!
Until later!