Sharp-eyed readers like my mom and my aunts might have noticed I didn’t have a new blog post last week. There’s a good reason for that. I’m having surgery soon, and I need to cram eight to twelve weeks’ worth of work into four.
It’s been fun. See, besides my day job, I also have a side business as one half of S&L Editing, plus I’m a publisher, and oh yeah, I’m supposed to be a writer, too. I was feeling pretty good about getting ahead of the game on my day job stuff, plus I’d managed to lay out a book for the press early. I successfully guided a second book to publication (Megan and Riley Share the Joy of Christmas by Ken Keeney, now available for preorder), and was ready to relax in front of my computer and get started on my Christmas shopping (which also needs to be done before surgery).
“What’s for dinner?” Jason asked.
“What?” I said.
You see, with all this other stuff on my plate, I’d forgotten about the basics, like cleaning, or cooking, or laundry. Our house is still decorated for Halloween, for example, and it’s likely going to stay that way until spring. (I suspect with the skull décor we have anyway, nobody will really notice.)
Jason has been pretty good about all this. (When I read the last sentence aloud, for example, he did start taking down the Halloween stuff.) Like, it turns out he was asking about dinner not only because he was starving—I hadn’t cooked in a week at least, trying to get that other stuff done—but so he could watch and learn how to cook some of the dishes I make regularly when I do remember to cook. (He has hot dogs, spaghetti, and baked chicken down pat, so the good news is, we won’t starve.) So when he asked me what was for dinner, I thought hard for about ten seconds, then announced, “I think you should practice hot dogs again. I’m not sure you have the boiling time quite right.” (Spoiler: this was a ruse. I just didn’t want to cook.)
As Jason heated up the water, I finished up the holiday shopping, plus picked up a birthday gift for my nephew Evan. “These look boiled enough to you, your highness?” Jason asked. (What was his problem?)
They did, and I thanked him for the break. I closed my laptop and tried to focus on actually being in the moment, eating a meal with him. I had no idea what to talk about. Our days have been filled with conversation about bone fusions and medications and pain management so much lately that I’d completely forgotten what the heck we had in common that we could discuss.
Jason seemed to be in the same pickle. “So, uh . . . when’s your book coming out?” he mumbled.
Oh, crap! I have not one but two chapbooks coming out this month. And as God as my witness, I had no idea when.
Out came the laptop again. I brought up the book schedule and cross-referenced it with IngramSpark. “November 12? Maybe?”
It turns out Longo Looks at . . . Dieting will be available for preorder on the twelfth, with a release date of Nov. 18. Longo Looks at . . . Christmas will be available for preorder Nov. 19 with a release date of Black Friday, Nov. 23.
I think. I’m not even sure anymore. The world, quite frankly, is asking too much of me right now. Here’s what I am sure of: the Jack Skellington Halloween decoration in the dining room looks really cute as a centerpiece. I’m leaving it.
It’s been fun. See, besides my day job, I also have a side business as one half of S&L Editing, plus I’m a publisher, and oh yeah, I’m supposed to be a writer, too. I was feeling pretty good about getting ahead of the game on my day job stuff, plus I’d managed to lay out a book for the press early. I successfully guided a second book to publication (Megan and Riley Share the Joy of Christmas by Ken Keeney, now available for preorder), and was ready to relax in front of my computer and get started on my Christmas shopping (which also needs to be done before surgery).
“What’s for dinner?” Jason asked.
“What?” I said.
You see, with all this other stuff on my plate, I’d forgotten about the basics, like cleaning, or cooking, or laundry. Our house is still decorated for Halloween, for example, and it’s likely going to stay that way until spring. (I suspect with the skull décor we have anyway, nobody will really notice.)
Jason has been pretty good about all this. (When I read the last sentence aloud, for example, he did start taking down the Halloween stuff.) Like, it turns out he was asking about dinner not only because he was starving—I hadn’t cooked in a week at least, trying to get that other stuff done—but so he could watch and learn how to cook some of the dishes I make regularly when I do remember to cook. (He has hot dogs, spaghetti, and baked chicken down pat, so the good news is, we won’t starve.) So when he asked me what was for dinner, I thought hard for about ten seconds, then announced, “I think you should practice hot dogs again. I’m not sure you have the boiling time quite right.” (Spoiler: this was a ruse. I just didn’t want to cook.)
As Jason heated up the water, I finished up the holiday shopping, plus picked up a birthday gift for my nephew Evan. “These look boiled enough to you, your highness?” Jason asked. (What was his problem?)
They did, and I thanked him for the break. I closed my laptop and tried to focus on actually being in the moment, eating a meal with him. I had no idea what to talk about. Our days have been filled with conversation about bone fusions and medications and pain management so much lately that I’d completely forgotten what the heck we had in common that we could discuss.
Jason seemed to be in the same pickle. “So, uh . . . when’s your book coming out?” he mumbled.
Oh, crap! I have not one but two chapbooks coming out this month. And as God as my witness, I had no idea when.
Out came the laptop again. I brought up the book schedule and cross-referenced it with IngramSpark. “November 12? Maybe?”
It turns out Longo Looks at . . . Dieting will be available for preorder on the twelfth, with a release date of Nov. 18. Longo Looks at . . . Christmas will be available for preorder Nov. 19 with a release date of Black Friday, Nov. 23.
I think. I’m not even sure anymore. The world, quite frankly, is asking too much of me right now. Here’s what I am sure of: the Jack Skellington Halloween decoration in the dining room looks really cute as a centerpiece. I’m leaving it.
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