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.

What Comes Next

Hi there darlins

So, let me give you a quick sense of my schedule for the next few days. This is relevant because a) I'm going to be doing something super fun over the weekend and I want to share, and b) it affects the posting of the first chapter of Soothsayer.

This weekend my man and I are going to knife camp in the mountains. Martial Blades Concepts camp, actually, but that's just a fancy way of saying we're going to be playing with edged weapons for three days. Look at my attendance gift!

Ooh, neck knife, so pretty!

I say playing...it's a self-defense system based on the idea that you're carrying and know how to effectively use a tactical folding knife, and also works on empty-hand defenses against a knife-wielding attacker. I've always wanted to get more comfortable with knife work since it's such a practical weapon, and this stuff is very cool and very practical, so. Off to the mountains, where we'll be car-camping (most people are staying at the nearby resort--wusses) until Monday morning. Then we rush back to Boulder and I go to work.

The problem here is that I'll have very little writing time this weekend, and as a result the first chapter of Soothsayer may be delayed to Tuesday afternoon, or possibly Thursday if I'm not feeling it. It's going to be a fairly long chapter, and I want to have the time to do it right. Just an fyi.

Also, and this is a change from my normal MO, it's possible that once I'm done with Soothsayer I'll want to submit it to a press if it's good enough. My science fiction stories I plan to self-publish someday and will always have a free version up here, but this one might end up in the hands of a third-party publisher, which means I might have to remove the content at some point. The story will still be free to follow while I post it here, and stay that way until if/when I get a contract, so don't worry about that, I'm not going to leave you hanging, I just have to go full-speed ahead with this whole "be an actual full-time writer and give up your day job" thing, and this could be a part of that. I've got to try, at least.

Have a wonderful weekend, guys!