ahem

Can't seem to help myself. 

Nearly died yesterday unpacking the boxes, putting books in my plastic totes, and packing the boxes with labels.

And if that weren't enough, my short ass decided I DID need to make the book cover for book 6 in my Plot Twist series. 

It's called "Rabbit God" and will be out April 2027. The cover is definitely a bit different, but I love it (for now).

46,313 words on "The Gordons." And I'm sort of in panic mode (my default) before I realize how much more I have to write. Plotting out three places across the globe wore my ass out. And I'm still out of country, by the way.

Plenty of room to wrap up and then make a trail for book 6.

Thought there were lots of things I wanted to watch on streaming. That did not turn out to be true. But July should be interesting. Here's hoping.

Got my new planner in. It's like freakin' Christmas! And my new quad-color pens, of course. Need to transfer info from one to the other.

And while I made myself a weekly calendar for socials, let's be honest. If I'm wore out, things are not going to be socialed. Period. 

I've made reels, mind you. PLENTY of reels. But I'm in that release limbo right now, and it's annoying me. Of course, that will be nearly every month so I should suck it up. But not until I properly bitch about it. It's a process. 

I made myself a list

When I see things, I remember them. On the other hand, out of sight, out of mind. This is no truer than with an ADHD person. 

The Sanctuary is a fucking pit right now. I have:

9 plastic bins full of books

7 Amazon boxes full of books

3 books left to publish this year

4 book events

2 anthologies

to separate books for my first event at the end of July

to sticker up my display books and genres

to make the day bed

I want to:

make the cover for book 6 in my Plot Twist series. (I haven't finished writing "The Gordons" but what the hell?)

fill in my next planner with the pertinents

print out and laminate and bind my table catalog

do everything instead of what I need to

scream

Simply a woman with literally a whole day ahead of her and no ambition to do anything, which is different. But I feel scattered and not in the mood. Which is tough noodles because I need this shit done by Friday.

Not much a fan of Snow White, but she's got my vibe right here.

I'm a Mulan type of girlie.

On that wayward thread, if you ever see a fifty-something woman blasting "I'll Make a Man Out of You" in a blue SUV, it's me. Singing everybody's part.

The furnace life is not for me

Going to be miserably hot for at least a week. My body does not do well in the heat. So many reasons why, but basically? None for me, thanks.

Today my granddaughter, CC, turns 7. You think your kids grow up fast? Wait for the gbabies. I can remember holding her when she was born. Time is a thief. I see that a lot when people realize moments and ages don't last forever. 

Business stuff. Writing on "The Gordons" today and maybe looking at editing "Ace." I'm torn in the in-between of hyping up "Apollo and Hyacinthus" while simultaneously bringing up "The Morrigan" as it releases in a month. 

Also, ya girl lost the fucking charger to her Beats and is about to spiral into no place she wants to visit. It was such a damn little cord. 

Antyway. It's only 9, and I have the whole day ahead of me. 

Yay? 

Ass-backward day

Started out at a decent time this morning. But focused more on tidying up the kitchen and whatnot. Didn't sit down in this chair until nearly 2:00 pm. 🤯

This is...unfamiliar. 

My Prime goodies came in. Half off a Stanley, my first. Three new four-ink color pens. And they're all different! A new eye mask for bed. And a horseshoe looking fan that I can put around my neck, and air blows up. Pretty slick.

And two dozen crinkles for Murphy. Who proceeded to hop in said box, open up his damn crinkles, and absolutely lose his mind.

It was awesome. 😂

I remade a reel for "The Portrait" which was a Paranormal Romance but has now shifted to the Romantasy trope. Because when I wrote the book, that term didn't even exist yet. 

Published in 2006 the first time; I received my rights back last year. Edited and pubbed again as 2nd edition. Very exciting.

Put a new cover on. Ran through the entire book more than a few times. Still enjoyed it.

By the way, I'm absolute shit for remembering some of my characters' names. 

If you ask my about the stories I published two decades ago, I might be 50/50 on names. 😒

That's today. Writing tomorrow and Sunday. Excited about it. Not going anywhere as I don't want to spontaneously combust. Please and thank you.

On display

In the way back, I bought hella stickers, little sparkly bags to put swag in, and a plethora of nice draw-string bags. 

I didn't do that this year. 

I'm going to pass out what I have and then reevaluate. 

First, everyone thought the sparkly bags were for sale. I literally typed out a note for the table that explicitly told passers-by to help themselves. Had a pen, my business card, stickers, and an old-timey stamp library checkout card. 

I couldn't GIVE the nice bags away. They're fabric with drawstrings in black, green, and blue. They are uber nice. 

Everyone liked the stickers, both in the sparkly bags and on the table. 

Candy was a no-go for pretty much everyone. Ended up giving one family an entire bag of Reece's chocolate hearts because they caught me at the end of the day, and those were NOT going home with me. 

I would recommend donating a book or books for a giveaway basket. Or having your table tied into a raffle or bingo card of some sort. Needing a sig to win a prize. That sort of thing. 

But pace yourself. I don't think that results in many sales.

Yesterday, I put twelve of my books in the display I bought. I've several more written. But having a visual of my hard work is certainly a means of pushing productivity. I keep looking at them and simply smiling.

Funny thing, I think I can buy another display and have two, especially next year. 

Sometimes it's not the sales, my darlings. Sometimes it's the knowledge that the dream of your heart is coming true before your eyes.

Is it Wednesday? It feels like Monday.

Errands to do this morning. Bleh. Found some AMAZING cut watermelon at Crest. So sweet. So good. So me having to go to the bathroom every five minutes. 

Worth it.

I have 7 Amazon boxes full of about 10 titles behind me on the floor. I stuck with the table model for book events and the like. I didn't trust myself to like drape things over boxes and set up my books. I bought a display rack, and I'm fucking excited! Going to mark my display copies and then keep the pristine originals on my side of the table. Also, because I'm me, I've decided to have a laminated catalog of my other titles available on the table. Plus, stickers and whatnot. Finally getting into the spirit. About damn time.

Also, it's overcast as hell here, and I'm starving. Like, I had breakfast. Came home and ate some watermelon. But the food noise is real. 

I have 42,855 words on the "The Gordons" and am pleased with the progress. Will write today, but for some reason I'm drawn to making reels, even though I'm not pressed to do that right now. I made 3 for A&H and 3 for "The Morrigan."

I want to say maybe I'm ahead for once???

But then reality struck, and I realized I have three anthologies to write in. 😬

Cue the drums and trumpets, I've outdone myself once again.

Cue Twilight Zone theme music

I find out a lot of things while I'm deep-diving into the ol' Interweb. Some incredibly niche information. All to the good of my books. 

Having said that...ya girl hit a new high (low?) yesterday.

There are three points on a map that I need LA to visit. In a little over four days. But two of the points are closer together whilst the last point is farther away.

Thus, I needed mileage between the first point and second. Then mileage between second and third. And, of course, third to LA's home.

Rough terrain. Communities. Water. You name it, I'm having this heifer burst through everything with her mythological companion. 

You will literally NEVER guess which one. 

Antyway, I have my stats for that. Then, I need to know how quickly they must travel to be able to pull this off. 

Answer: 200 mph, with a few snacks and bathroom breaks.

For those who need to know: 

At the speed of light: 0.027 seconds

At Pegasus's hypothetical top speed? You would be in the air for about 50 hours.

THEN...I wanted to know how fast something would need to move to keep the surface tension of the water beneath them and not fall into it. 

And ONLY THEN...did I hop into the rabbit holes of the Ekranoplan, hydroplanes, and the Basilisk concept.

My brain promptly exploded, and I sought my rocker recliner for the rest of the evening.

But fucking hell...what a ride!

What. A. Ride.

Now, I only need to write it.