I’ve fallen off the Earth into a deep dark pit that’s swallowed me whole. Melodramatic? Maybe. Accurate feeling? Absolutely.
So last you heard I had a gaggle of events and I did. Overall they went really well. Dallas was busy busy but that was partially due to me trying to maximize my time there and make the 6-8 hours of driving worth it. Hence 3 events in 2 days. Was it worth it? Yes. Get Lit was a blast as usual but sales for everyone were down compared to the winter, not sure if it was just the crowd, the heat or the economy. First B & N sold over half the stock but second was painfully slow. Lots of loungers in the cafe where they placed me. Fortunately the store kept the stock so on the back end for me it was worth it either way.
Then September was rough. Mainly because we lost our fur baby Bently. He was 16-almost 17 and had been fighting cancer for the past 2 years with everything from eastern, western and whatever in between. We knew he wouldn’t live forever but it would always be too soon. Obviously this alone is is tough but people’s avoidance of talking about the dead and the incredible beings they were adds salt to a gaping wound. I get that no one wants to make you burst into tears but lets not awkwardly tip toe around on eggshells. Yes, he’s passed but he was/is amazing and I’m not goign to stop talking about him (or my other fur babies) so stop being f*cking weird. And then I had another book fair where I compartmentalized my feelings and met all of you which was genuinely nice. Special shout out to the man in the “Deny Defend Depose” shirt who bought my book. He was a grizzly of a man but as soon as I saw that shirt I knew he’d appreciate what Jessi was up against in In Stasis.
As for October, the WIP Away to Another place is officially with the editor! And In Stasis is being narrated as we speak. It’s been fun listening as the chapters have been uploaded for my review because as an author you read your own story too many times to count. I don’t want to say you get bored with your own story but you (or maybe just me) do get to where you’re like “yea yea and then next blah and after that yada”. However hearing it in her voice is exciting and makes me excited to hear my own story as though it’s fresh. Final October updates… working on short stories that will be a part of a psychological weird horror collection. I had to pause because one creeped me out too much to write to close to bed.