Saturday 28 February 2015

AWOL Author

Hello readers!

It's been ages since I've posted anything here.  I'm a very bad blogger, it seems.  Life has just been SO busy!

So what have I been up to lately, you might ask? Well...

I bought an older home and have been renovating it.  I've discovered I love taking down walls but hate plaster dust.  As well, I've learned that one renovation leads to another and another and another! Almost 8 months later, the project is finally wrapping up.  Whew!

I've also been packing and purging in preparation for moving.  I'm pretty much a non-consumer, but I still have way too much stuff.  The local thrift shops will be getting quite a few donations.

My shoulder has been slowly improving though any excessive use of it will cause inflammation.  I find myself having to move with greater care or taking longer than usual to do simple projects.  Ah, the joys of getting older!

Recently, I've lost several relatives and friends to old age and/or cancer.  With each passing, there has been sorrow but I realize I've also learned something from each individual.  For example, my aunt was such a gracious lady and I can only hope to emulate her.  My friend's mother was always so upbeat and believed in never sweating the small stuff. I'm trying to make that my personal mantra.

As well as human losses, a stray cat that had been around my house for over a year had to be put down this week.  That was hard as I had envisioned eventually adding him to my inside collection.  He'd been someone's pet and they abandoned him to live and die on his own.  He'd never been neutered or vaccinated so a combination of fighting for territory and disease eventually did him in.  This has firmed my resolve to support my local shelter and push for free or reduced-rate spay/neuter clinics to help control the cat population.

So far, 2015 has been rough.  I find myself viewing life as being much shorter than ever before.  I've told myself to stop putting things off and make more time for 'living'.  We'll have to see how that goes!

Through all of this, I've been plugging away at the new book.  It's due out May 4th, 2015 and is called For the Good of All or GOA as Jan, my editor, has dubbed it.  It will focus on Stone, a character that appeared near the end of Road to Redemption.  I'm about to send Jan the first half to start editing while I continue to tweak the last part.  As I stare at the calendar, I start to get nervous that the deadline is creeping up so quickly.  For those of you waiting for a new tale, I'm sure time is moving way too slow but for me, all I can say is "Yikes!"