Taking a day off because...

Because life, the universe and my kidlet have conspired against me, darlins.

I caught a minor cold over the weekend (shouldn't have made that joke last week about being sick, ah ha ha...ha). This isn't enough to keep me from writing, but the day I normally dedicate to Mutable/all blog stories (Sunday) was a festive, visiting-people kind of day, so no time. Fine, I'll get it done on Monday then.

Not if she has anything to say about it.

(Here we have my beloved reorganizing my bookshelf for the fifth time today...she has very strong opinions on the placement of graphic novels, and who am I to gainsay her?)

My baby girl, light of my life, my bees knees, my cats pajamas...she had a rough Sunday evening. And by "rough" I mean "we were up from 1:30 to 4:30." So Monday I was little more than a zombie with a stuffy nose and a case of the chills, and went to bed early. Now it's Tuesday, and I've got nothin' for ya. Nothing except this cute picture of my kid and a promise to get back on track next week (barring any more karmic justice).

I hope all of you have a great day and sleep amaaazingly well tonight.

*Update--the kiddo has caught my cold. We are not a joyful house this morning. We are crusty and snotty and trying to eat and breathe at the same time.

RL Post Today

Hi guys,

So, there's no story post today. I spent Friday-Monday at knife camp and managed to catch a cold while I was there. I'm headachy, regular achy, and have a runny nose I'm trying to keep away from my kiddo, so story? Not happening. I'll try for an extra long installment next week.

That said, things have been...overall good lately. Knife camp was fun, my parents came up to watch the itsy bitsy baby (who is turning one on Friday, OMG), and we won a truly beautiful, utterly unique handcrafted damascus knife made from steel that came from one of the World Trade Center's I-beams. It seems particularly relevant to write about a knife like that, on today of all days. We're grateful to own such a gorgeous piece of art and history.

Let's see...the baby turns one, right. Friday. What? WHAT? How can this be? She was just a tiny little bundle of sleepy adorableness yesterday, and now she's standing and crawling and chattering and is, quite possible, the prettiest baby ever. Every mother says this, but I really mean it. I've actually had people say (not to me, but to people who then told me about it) "How could two ordinary-looking people make such a pretty baby?" To which I say...thanks? I guess?

My quest to make enough to stay at home with the kiddo continues to twist and turn. I had an online editing gig that went sour after they realized they had to actually pay me the rate they promised for ALL my work, not just what they thought merited that money. I've got a ghostwriting gig coming up that should set me right for a while, but we'll see how long I can stretch the money to make it last. I've got a book with Dreamspinner coming out in October, synopses due to DSP and Carina for more books, a sequel to write with Lori, and a UF and PNR to finish before the end of the year. It's all uncertain returns, which sucks, but what can you do?

At any rate, I'm writing, I'm hunting for work, I'm caring for my kiddo and loving on my husband and appreciating all the help I get from family and friends, so I think I'm pretty damn lucky overall. And I've got you, my awesome readers, who help make pressing on worthwhile. So thanks for being there, for reading my work and supporting my books, and for chatting at me every now and then. I'll post about the upcoming book later this week, but I think that's it for today.

Be good to yourselves, darlins.

Teething Strikes Again!

So, my baby girl is cutting a new crop of fangs. That means that none of us is sleeping well in the house right now, and thanks to a rough evening yesterday, I didn't get any of my normal writing done. Suffice it to say, Mutable isn't finished. I'll try to post later today if at all possible, but it might be later this week.

Them's the breaks! Unhappy babies always have to come first for a mommy.

Oh Baby

My baby is here! Oh my gosh, my baby is here. I am so full of love it's overwhelming.

I'm also tired, sore, sleep deprived, tired, hungry, sleepy, and did I mention tired? Because I am.

I will have more Tower for you as soon as childishly possible, but my kiddo has needs, and those include most of my time and brain power at the moment. First kid, what can I say? There's a learning curve.

Thanks for being patient, and for the lovely well wishes :)

Moving Things Up--ie, Why There's No Tower Today

Hi guys.

So, there should be a chapter here, yeah? Or at least half a chapter. But life has gotten in the way, in a BIG way. After a doctor's appointment last week, it was decided that Baby Girl needs to come out sooner rather than later, so tomorrow we're going in to be induced. Technically she's full term and everything looks like it's working okay, we're just three weeks earlier than I thought we'd be.

Three weeks. Three WEEKS. I was counting on having those weeks to get all sorts of stuff done, and now life has turned into a mad dash of getting the house ready, buying whatever else we might need, making preparations for our dog, readying ourselves for the hospital--you get the drill. I've been the next best thing to frantic, and tired and super pregnant to boot, so...yeah. I wish I'd gotten it done, but I didn't. I don't know when the next chapter will post, since after tomorrow I'll have a tiny human depending on my and my man, and our tiny human expertise is limited. I see a lot of trial and error in my future.

I'm excited to welcome my baby, though, and excited to get the pregnancy part of this experience over with, and excited about labor--or, wait, that might be anxiety. Probably anxiety. I'll try to let you guys know how things go as soon as possible. In the meantime, thanks for reading (or trying to read) and best of luck in whatever you're doing this next week.

Cari