http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z6iOJTr1VY

I stand by the confusion in the title.  It feels like this year is one being chaotic marathon that somebody left on fast forward.  I’m sitting here trying to remember what happened every month, but only a few have memories.  Pretty sure I put out 2 of the 4 books that I planned/spontaneously conjured for.  Eh, that was a bad sentence, but I’m saving up my editing energy for later.

This month has the Character Interviews that people submitted questions for.  Those will be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I had the 13 characters put in a randomizer, so there’s not rhyme nor reason to their appearance.  With any luck, they’ll carry a good amount of interest to the series while I wait for the final pieces of The Merchant of Nevra Coil.  Coming close, but not there yet.  Fingers crossed that my exile can be used to make the debut.

And that’s really a constant problem for me.  I have a rather tight schedule and probably will maintain it until Legends of Windemere is fully published.  3 books a year is tough, so I’ll try to drop to 2 with some small stuff during the summer.  I’ve kind of locked myself into this.  Not to mention the length makes teasers a challenge.  So I do as much hype as I can and gather volunteers for the debut post before I get everything because that’s how it has to go.  If I wait until I have everything then I’ll be waiting another few weeks and that throws off the schedule.  The only book that I really get antsy with is the last one of the year, which I want to be released at least a week before Christmas.  It’s all about timing and that’s a pain some days.

My editing of future installments is running about as smoothly as a unicycle on a cobblestone road.  The heat has me drained, mental burnout is still threatening to take hold, and it appears the heat is setting off my son’s asthma.  That last one means I have to keep an eye on him when he’s home and get him to relax at times.  Not easy.  Before ANYONE suggests that I take a break, I want to point out that I took a break prior to tackling the editing.  I’ll also be taking a ‘break’ come middle of August until my son goes back to school in September.  I will be lucky to maintain a biking schedule and not pass out by 8 PM, especially if this heat continues.

I’m hoping to fiddle a bit more with the action/comedy since that’s the one that I’ll be tackling next.  I have to admit that it’s hard to do comedy when you’re feeling lousy, angry, and/or depressed.  Lloyd’s 4th wall breaking could easily turn more into him repeatedly insulting the author.  That ‘tool’ still seems to be a point of contention.  I never realized how sensitive readers can be about that one, but it’s still something I would like to attempt.  Reminds me that I still have that paranormal thriller from earlier this year that I still don’t know what to do with.  Ever have that project you finish, but you can’t bring yourself to go back to?

So what am I going to do this week?

1. Clean house in prep for next weekend’s party.
2. Finish editing Book 10.
3. Start editing Book 11.  Best to do these one right after the other for continuity checks.
4. Take a day or half a day to poke at other ideas.
5. Biking attempts.
6. Parenting.
7. Indulge in an iced latte at some point this week.
8. Make a supply list for the exile.
9. Drink that Double Chocolate Stout I forgot about yesterday.

FINAL NOTE:  I’m hoping to start the ‘Questions 3’ posts that will be happening on Thursdays.  Not 100% certain how to do them, but I’m aiming to make them spontaneous questions on a topic.  Hopefully they work out.

ADDED NOTE: You ever sit back and start feeling nostalgic for something.  I’ve been stumbling onto old video game songs all year such as the one above.  Makes me miss the days where I could sit down and play games like this.  I’m talking Chrono Trigger, Illusions of Gaia, Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy 9, Final Fantasy 2, and so many that feel like they’re from an entirely different world.  Maybe these are a bigger influence on my desire to create a land of escapism than the D&D and books.