Time for an Update

 It probably says everything in that I'm staring blankly at my blog title and literally nothing comes to mind. 

I mean, I can just cut to the chase: I'm not writing much at the moment. I'm not blocked or burnt out or ill or retired. But I'M JUST BUSY doesn't really explain it. 

But, for example, this is my upcoming week.  We currently have no running water--this is heading into week three--due to a burst pipe somewhere in the slab beneath our (probably) kitchen floor. Maybe--hopefully--the new contractors will get permission from our house insurance company to start work this week. Meanwhile, I'm trying to pack for a gig in Ventura this coming weekend--vocal exercises, a rehearsal, laundry--oh, wait, no running water--set lists, etc. I'm also trying to pack for GRL, because when we get back from the gig, I literally have one day to get ready for the flight to Virginia. So I'm packing books, digging out swag--in between emptying out my office and the kitchen cupboards--because when the contractors finally get the go ahead, they'll be rerouting the plumbing through the walls, which means cutting into the walls of a bunch of unrelated rooms. 

Much of yesterday was spent trying to get a COVID booster. Because...long plane flight, conference, and the fact I have low immunity due to working in a bubble, worries me. I didn't react well to Covid. I wasn't one of the lucky people--like the SO--who was down for a two days and then back to normal. I was sick for a month and then suffered all kinds of ridiculous after-effects. IT'S WHAT I DO. Apparently. Anyway,  Kaiser has NO appointments available locally, and even if they did, they don't have the Moderna vax. I'm considering paying the $240. to get the shot out of network, but now my window for recovering from the after-effects (because, yes, of course, I can't even get the damned booster without being laid low) has closed. I did get my flu shot yesterday, though, so yay.

This is a snapshot of how my year--particularly the summer--has gone. It's actually the third time we've been without running water for a prolonged period. It has been a year of sick dogs, sick house, sick parents... 

The sick parents thing. My mother can not remember conversations or events that happened even half an hour earlier.

This all sounds so dark and gloomy, but actually, it has also been a great summer in a lot of ways. I've spent a lot of wonderful, precious time with family and friends--I've reconnected with friends I hadn't spoken to in decades: my best friend when I was five-years-old, my college roommates. I'm working on a huge Storyworth project with/for my dad. I've started an Etsy store (LOL I know). 

And I am writing a bit. On Patreon I'm "rewriting" the Secrets and Scrabble series from Jack's POV. Which is to say, I'm doing codas from Jack's POV covering all the encounters between Jack and Ellery in the books. Despite what that might sound like, it's actually a useful creative exercise because it's refreshing my memory of the series and the characters before I attempt to finish Corpse at Captain's Seat. 

I can't make any guarantees, but I would like to be able to finish that eighth book before the end of the year. It's a challenge because not long after I get back from GRL, my dear chum (I love that word) is coming for a week-ish and then we'll be into the holidays and then more holidays and birthdays and then it all starts again. 

Which is why when I try to think of what to say in an update, I'm not sure where to begin. 

Well, I could talk about translations--so many translations this year, which has been fantastic and a large part of what's kept us afloat financially--but, despite the strong start in the spring, the latter part of the year has not seen any fresh fiction from me. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to finally having a stretch of time to simply write. In theory that time begins when I get home from GRL. In practice? 

Time will tell.