Is That The Time? Wow….

I have been so busy. Which is really really nice! But it does mean that blog posts generally go to the bottom of the priority stack. So, a quick update.

First and most importantly: I’ll be at Once Upon a Story Con tomorrow, in Norfolk, VA. Here’s the link for more info:

https://onceuponeverystorycon.com

There will be lots of authors, readings, merch, and panels. It’s only a one day convention, too, so it won’t be overwhelming time-wise. Come on out (and enjoy the AC on a 90+° day….)

(EDIT: I did not, in fact, make it out to the Once Upon Every Story Con. My husband had a bad car accident the night before. He’s okay!! But everything got cancelled for a few days.) 🙁

I will also be out at the Big Gay Pride Market next weekend, 6/14, at the Carillon/UU, 1300 Blanton Ave. Here’s the link for more info on that and other great TransJam events: https://transjamrva.square.site/events

Next: I absolutely loathe using MS Word for typeset. I’ve been battling it every which way for weeks to get the revised edition of Fallen City out. I had it sorted (I thought), but now it looks like everything’s going to start on the wrong page. So I have to make time to look at that again. But before that / at the same time, I have:

A garden going nuts because it’s hot and it’s cold and it’s wet and it’s dry and everything is still in pots that are just way too small, because I have to go the garden store and get great big bags of potting soil and huge pots, because my idea of building a raised bed garden in a fenced area has not worked quite the right way, and so I’m putting everything on the deck in pots again. Only this year I’m growing cucumbers and winter squash. So … that’s going to be … interesting.

I say this every year: I did not think this through….

Classes! I only have two classes left before I graduate with another Associate’s Degree (my first two are a general Associate of Arts and an Associate of Science in Drafting/Design Tech). The next one up (starting next week) is a math class, which is hugely stressful for me after so many years of not dealing with complex maths. Then there’s a landscape class that I’m looking forward to. And then I’ll be done! (I feel like that deserves 2 exclamation marks, but I resisted. Aren’t you proud of me?)

And … writing! I’m still working on the second book in the Kingdom of Salt series, which bids fair to be just as big as the first book. I will very probably publish a 1.5 book first, to cover all the intersectional stuff that’s happening elsewhere during Lies of Stone and which will impact book 2 in significant ways.

I’m also working with a cover artist to sort out a collection of short stories that I’ve had published elsewhere over the years. I’m really excited about this one; it’s a retrospective on how my writing has evolved over the last 20 years or so. And I am not formatting this one in Word. I’m using Affinity Publisher, which is much more in line with the way I think. So that’s another huge block of time to negotiate.

Oh, oh, oh, and! And! I’m back to volunteering at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Back to my beloved work cataloging and filing maps and map adjacent materials. A lot piled up during the four months I was out, so I’m tackling it with as much energy as I can manage to spare each week.

What else… I’m starting to work on learning to cook Indian meals. I picked up Chetna Makan’s cookbook, “Easy Indian Vegetarian,” and I’m going on my first shopping trip to gather special ingredients… well… *looks at calendar* Um. Soonish?

So yeah, that’s a lot to be juggling. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s convention. I think it might actually be restful….

Hope to see you there!