No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth…
(… Although, that might actually be interesting, in an SFnal way.)
Nope, still here. Long period of non-blogging is largely due to activities and issues in the Real World Out There, requiring way more attention than I hoped, not to mention actual physical actions. Such as dashing about, lifting, lugging, tossing, shifting. Oh, and painting. Let’s not forget painting.
Add to that, matters not (technically) in the Real World Out There, but still requiring attention, consideration, decisions, and in some cases interaction with bureaucratic entities — Blogging fell to the bottom of my To Do list for a while.
Meanwhile: yes, I’m in my new apartment, which I dearly love. Largely because, small as it is, it’s all mine. It’s not quite fixed up entirely to my preference yet; almost there, but other requirements of Reality are taking precedence for a while. Such as the aforementioned considerations, decisions and interactions.
Also: my sister is selling her condo in order to take to the highway as a modern nomad, as I’ve mentioned before. And this means lots and lots of fix-up and painting. Some of which is being done by hired hands, and some (plenty!) done by her and myself. It’s the least I can do after she put up with me for so long! We’re getting down to the wire, and much still needs to be done. We’re on it.
Of course, I decided at the exact same time that my office needed certain refurbishings:
My blackboard with fluorescent markers under black light worked so well that I wanted more, and I increased its size by about 40%. Tricky to install (it’s contact paper), but worth the effort. Especially for structural planning, it’s good to see the whole pattern laid out in real space.
In other news: I’m fully vaccinated — and so are many of my pals! Which means that socializing in RealSpace has come back. I recently saw a whole slew of people at one gathering (an engagement party, where we met the bride-to-be, a true gem!), and will see some more next week. It’s so lovely to be able to, you know — hug people!
Okay, out of time, gotta go… More later (which is always true, come to think of it).
July 21st, 2021 at 12:21 am
Congratulations and very nice. And now for the question everyone’s wondering: how’s the writing coming along?
July 21st, 2021 at 2:54 am
Yay enormous blackboard!
July 21st, 2021 at 8:34 am
oh blacklight board? that is a very cool idea for those of us who dwell in the dark hahahahah (me) often.
July 21st, 2021 at 9:10 am
Glad to hear it was nothing drastic. Life certainly does poke its nose in at times. Glad you are getting props in the work space to help with the writing. Best of luck there.
July 21st, 2021 at 10:30 am
It’s great to hear from you! Huzzah for non-falling 😀
July 22nd, 2021 at 3:42 pm
I’ve just discovered your books and binged my way through to the end of 3rd book. I’m so blown away I’ve babbled to everyone- including the fantasy subreddit- about them. They’re absolutely brilliant. Thank you for writing them and any future books.
September 2nd, 2021 at 12:53 am
Aw, thanks for the good words, and the signal boost!
July 23rd, 2021 at 1:09 pm
I recently had your books recommended to me, and then devoured them about as quickly as I could. I am very glad that you have an active blog, so that I have somewhere I can leave a note to thank you for them. I really can’t believe I hadn’t encountered them sooner. I have tried not to make a pest of myself in the course of recommending them to virtually everyone I know.
Thank you so much for these books.
September 2nd, 2021 at 12:56 am
You’re welcome — and thanks for recommending them.
July 26th, 2021 at 6:15 pm
Always love to read your updates. Like Leap and Lewis I just found these books a few years ago (from a Scalzi post where authors pitched their books). Loved the concept and like most here have read through them all.
Trying to spread the good word about them to everyone I can!
September 2nd, 2021 at 12:59 am
Ah, good ol’ Scalzi. What a gentleman — and so generous of him to allow other authors the chance to pitch to his fans! Every year I get a discernible boost from those Xmas posts. Glad to hear you found me there.
September 10th, 2021 at 12:38 pm
I had the pleasure to read a galley of The Steerswoman before I attended the ABA convention in Las Vegas in I believe the late 80’s. Barry Bloom, my rep, introduced me to your editor in the hospitality suite. I remarked to him that I thought he had a winner with that book. I had lost track of your career and have recently (in the past 3 days) read all four of the books and am eagerly awaiting the rest of the story.
Jerry, AKA The WordWrangler/BookHerder