First, I’m still gathering volunteers for The Merchant of Nevra Coil and the August release. I don’t have an exact date, but I’ve been chatting with Jason who had some detail questions about a location. Editing is moving along too. The last week of July will still have the hype posts and next month is all character interviews because it’s going to be chaos incarnate. So fingers are crossed that I can get everything together and carve out some relaxation.
Why is August going to be a mess? I will hopefully have the book debut along with a party for the parents (70th bday, 70th bday, 40th anniversary), my 5-6 day exile from the house that I’m not thrilled about, and my son will have most of the month off. So I’ll be running around to keep him occupied while holding down the social media and writing fort. It will not be pretty and September will be a welcomed respite. Especially if the humidity and heat are still a pain.
My plan is to edit during that time, but a wrinkle might appear. I should be able to finish Books 9 and 10 before the exile. If I finish 11 too then I’m really golden. This leaves me with a problem. What do I do during the 5-6 day period? Do I sleep in the hotel room and watch TV the whole time? Well I’m supposed to write, but there isn’t might I can do in such a short period. I could start the new idea, except I go right from this exile to my son being home all day. That means 3-4 weeks of putting a non-fantasy story on the shelf since I doubt I’ll have much energy at night. So I have a lot of thinking to do. This is if I don’t spend the entire time promoting the new book because there’s always the chance that the day I head out is also the day I release The Merchant of Nevra Coil. I can already feel a migraine coming on.
In the realm of editing, I really need to take better notes at times. I stumbled onto 3 items in Book 9 that I forgot to carry over into later stories. One is an heirloom item that might not reappear until Book 11. Another is a marking on a character that is hard to miss once the illusion is down. The final one is a fun set of magic items that never reappear because they were a spur of the moment thing. I now have a post-it with all three things in BIG LETTERS and exclamation points! Author oops, but it’s good that I read through these again.
On the non-author side, we’re getting to my son’s 6th birthday. The party is next weekend and it’s the first time we’ve done a party outside of the house. He’s both excited and not really sure what’s going on. I’m sure everything will go smoothly. I should have Book 9 edited and off my to-do list by then too. This might not seem important, but I’ve kind of left this party in the hands of my wife . . . and now for goals of the week!
- Write up the August Interviews.
- Finish editing Book 9.
- I swear I’ll get to the bike this time.
- Prepare for son’s birthday party.
- Get a haircut!
- See Ant-Man tomorrow.
- Stay awake through Ant-Man tomorrow.
- Possibly start editing Book 10.
- Sleep for a day if possible. (This will fail.)
Legends of Windemere 
I’m usually late with birthday wishes, so happy birthday in advance 😀
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I’ll let him know. Though he’s been oddly quiet for a while.
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I suggest you wait, then 😀
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Charles, I need a nap after reading this post! Your responsible to do tasks are so impressive. You’ve got me thinking how irresponsible I am in my writing! But, then I’m far away from publishing anything! I commend you for keeping your mind on your writing & publishing. We all benefit from your posts and how you do it. Always something to think about! Christine
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Thanks. Though I really do need to take a break one day. With my luck, I’ll sleep through my exile from Day 1 to Day 6. Not necessarily a bad thing, I guess.
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Charles, glad you’re thinking of REST! It’s been said that rest is rejuvenating! Put that on your list! Christine
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Yup. Thinking long and hard about it. Probably won’t happen though. Every time I try, somebody thinks I’m being lazy and gives me chores. Better to stay busy on the stuff I want to do. 🙂
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I wish you good luck with everything Charles, and better weather! And I will try to steal number 9 on your list and put it on mine (parenthes. included!)
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Well I hope you have better luck than me. Hope you have a fun week. 🙂
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I agree with C.E. Robinson. Happy birthday to your son, by the way.
I’m sure you’ll know what to do for your exile. Do you have to bring a bunch of notebooks with you when you go?
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Depends on what I work on. Legends of Windemere means a few notebooks and pads. Crossing Bedlam is just the one notebook. The big problem is that there’s no way to finish either project before the exile is done. The 3-4 week hiatus would definitely do some damage.
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If you work on Crossing Bedlam during your exile, will you have to set it aside when you return home to work on something else?
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Not exactly. I’ll have to set it aside because my son will be off from school until after Labor Day. At best, I’ll have an occasional hour long block of ‘me’ time until the night. But that will be going to email, blog, and Twitter. Night will just be pure exhaustion.
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Do you really have time to get a haircut? That’s half an hour wasted if you ask me, and a ponytail might become a good promotional tool.
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I’ve put it off for a while. A ponytail could help the back, but I’m starting to look like the Looney Tunes sheepdog. Don’t even get me started on how the sides stick out. It’s like permanent bed head at this point.
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Catch up on sleep, and see what stories you dream up?
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Strange thing about me is that I don’t really dream. A few real life stuff here and there, but nothing that would be story worthy. Those tend to happen when I’m awake.
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Maybe you can sleep late and take afternoon naps during your time away from home. Walk around. Breathe. Befriend silence 🙂 These are important to writers and fathers! It’s called a ‘sorta creative vacation’. Does the hotel have room service? Pizza parlors that deliver nearby? Coffee, bagels. That’ll do it for a few days 🙂
Ellespeth
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I’ll probably be sleeping semi-late. It depends on the hours for the continental breakfast. The place doesn’t have room service, so I’ll have to leave for food. It’s really a rough situation because I’m supposed to be ‘working’ on this trip, but I’m out of my area. So I might just spend the 5-6 days feeling lost. Hate to say it, but it probably won’t be as restful as one would think.
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