I realized (a week or so ago) that I forgot to post for October. Just as well, there wasn’t much to say.

Where are we now?

– Podium has released To Fire Called for Audible.
– Suicide Run is being difficult. I think I’m past the worse of it. Look for it to release before the end of the year.
– All the Tanyth Fairport books are still in production for Audible. Don’t know what the delivery date on that will be. I’ll let you know when they’re available.
– Paperbacks pending for: South Coast, To Fire Called, Milk Run (this list is getting longer, darn it. I wanted them all available by Christmas but that’s looking less likely right now.)

No, I still will not be reading my own work. I’m barely able to find the focus to get new stuff out and don’t want to commit more time outside of “write the next book.” I know it’s disappointing. It’s disappointing to me, too, but I’m doing the best I can with what I have.

I’ll be in Colorado Springs for COSine in January and in Austin, TX, for the Smarter Artists Summit in February. There was talk of an invitation to Salt Lake City sometime this winter, but I haven’t heard whether or not that’s going to bear fruit.

That’s what I know (or feel comfortable projecting) right now. I’m still here. I’m still writing. Stay tuned.

Safe Voyage.

I’m late on this. Sorry. It’s been a month already and it’s only the 13th.

I just got back from the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s annual convention and I’m fired up. The book (Suicide Run) took a hit over the end of August and the first couple of weeks of September. I thought I was going to have to chuck it and start over. I’ve spent the last couple of days reviewing it and I’m working with what I have there because I think it actually does work. I’m hoping to get a first draft done by the end of the month.

To Fire Called released on Audible yesterday.

Nothing else has changed.

August snuck up on me, in spite of having “Monthly update” on my to-do list for the last week. :/

What am I working on?

Suicide Run. I need to get this baby rolling along. It’s … complicated. I’m struggling to find the focus and motivation I need to push through this mushy middle part and get the story a little more meat. Some days (weeks) are like that.

I still haven’t finalized the edits for South Coast so the paperback is languishing here on my desk, giving me accusing looks and pouting. I need to get that off the desk so I can start on the next paperback conversion.

What am I doing?

Still working on diet, exercise, and meditation. I’m spending upwards of two hours a day just on self-care. The good news: On my last checkup a couple of weeks ago, I’d lost 20 pounds, 4 inches around the middle, and over 2 points on my A1c (from 8.0 down to 5.9). That frees me from the obligation to check glucose twice a day. The bad news: I still need to do what I’ve been doing. I don’t need to be quite so rigid with diet. I can eat more (pushing my calorie intake up to 1500) and I need to consume a few more carbs. I need to keep going with my food log and I’ve kept up glucose monitoring in the morning to check my fasting levels just to make sure I’m not slipping backwards.

I’m hoping that I can start moving my cognitive loading for dealing with this thing to the back burner.

What’s ahead?

I need to get Suicide Run to the editor by mid month – which isn’t that far off.

The Audible edition of To Fire Called should be out this next month according to the latest information from Podium. (ETA: That was my bad. They told me September originally and I don’t know what day it is.)

The Tanyth Fairport Adventures should be available on Audible by year end. I’ve agreed to the deal and made the first payment. Now it’s off my desk until the files come back.

Conventions?

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Colorado Gold Conference – Denver – Sep 8-10, 2017 (Yikes. I’ve got three presentations there which I need to prep!)

MileHighCon – Denver – Oct 27-29, 2017

COSine – Colorado Springs – Jan 19-21, 2018