Rosemary Kirstein

I want to thank everyone for the comments and emails of support and encouragement. I’m not able reply to each one immediately; I hope you’ll be patient. Comments in this blog are likelier to get a quick response, just because it’s one-stop-shopping, so to speak. But it means a lot to me that you’re out there; I can’t thank you enough.

I did finally manage to reply to every comment made on  my original post about the cancer.  So, if you commented, and you don’t know if I’ve replied — check back on the post.

Predictably, the last chemo hit me a bit harder than the previous; and my Saturday “steroid crash” was a lot crashier. (They give you steroids to pep you up for a few days after chemo. You feel feisty, and ready to duke it out with all comers! And then it wears off. And you sleep.)

So, I’ve missed more of the Day-job work days. But I did manage to do the all-important sending out of 1099’s to subcontractors. A task which only I seem to know how to do. It’s not a big company.

I’m trying to prepare them for the fact that at some point, possibly soon, I’ll need to be out for extended periods. Fortunately, we have short-term and long-disability insurance. I’ll be having Conversations with HR in the coming weeks.

In other news: ebooks update! Three things I need to do before I can release these guys into the wilds of ebook-land:

1. The map. Each book has a different map. Fortunately, they are all based on the Secret Master Chart which contains much more of Rowan’s World than anyone has seen. The idea is that each book’s map shows Rowan’s world as she knows it at the beginning of the book; taken in sequence, you can watch her explorations and knowledge grow. This was less evident in the omnibus print version of The Steerswoman’s Road, since I had to combine maps from Book 1 and Book 2; but for the ebooks, the progression should be clearer. So: maps.

2. The cover. Fortunately, each book’s cover is based on the portion of the map pertaining to that particular book, with additional objects from the story. So, when the map’s done, the cover is half-done! Unfortunately, half is not whole, and I was seduced by the first book’s cover. It was so easy, and came together so swiftly! Piece of cake, thought I. I can do this. Alas, subsequent covers are coming together more slowly. With my time and energy limited, I’ve bowed to necessity, and I’m scaling back. I have to let go of the perfect accuracy I wanted and just go for the general impression, a more symbolic representation, along with as much good design as I can manage. I want these book to be available, as soon as possible.  I might replace the covers with better ones down the line, if I can get some time.  And as it happens, updating the cover is simple for ebooks.

3. Extra final proofing, which is currently underway. So we don’t have stupidities like “fWith” happening again. None of us want that.

It’s hard for me to pin this down to an exact date.  I frankly thought I’d have the second book out by now, at least.   A bit of a learning curve as to what can and can’t be accomplished at this time, as I said.

I’m trying to get it done before the chemo side-effects catch up with me.  They’re closing in… but with the cover comprises, I feel like it’s doable.

not the real thing, but similar in weirdness