Lousy Smarch Weather
Oh, hey! There you are.
We’ve been having a few long, wet weeks here in southern California. The kind where the rain sucks all the heat out of the air and leaves you with a deep chill. In some ways, it’s great and reminds me of growing up in New England. And in other, much more current ways, I’m reminded that I live in a sixty-year old house built when the idea of needing insulation in southern California was just ha ha ha ha ridiculous. Also that I need to get the roof fixed in the garage. And also that we have half a dozen cats who think the sound of central heating means a street sweeper has somehow gotten into the house and we should all RUN IN TERROR!!!
And speaking of running in terror...
The world is an awful place right now. There are so many things to—rightfully—be angry or worried or openly scared about. I wish I could put an optimistic spin on it but... man, my optimism tanks are pretty much bone dry after the past few weeks.
What I can tell you is that being angry and scared all the time is exhausting, physically and emotionally. It’s unavoidable at points, I know, but try to give yourself permission to just breathe. Toss your phone over there and go for a walk. Go for a run. Play with your pets. Play a game. Read a book. Watch a favorite movie. Work in the garden. Make something. Seriously, do whatever you can to give yourself a couple minutes of peace and joy—and try not to feel guilty about it. We’re all going to need to be strong for the foreseeable future, and it’s easier to be strong when you’re not exhausted.
Thus ends the monthly pep talk.
In other, happier news...
Just as I sat down to start scribbling up this newsletter, I got an email to let me know God’s Junk Drawer is heading into copy edits a.k.a. line edits. The editor and I have already traded a few emails about scientific nomenclature vs casual conversation. Because that’s how my books roll, folks.
Also, a reminder that you can preorder the book right now from your favorite local bookstore. Or request your library grab a copy. Or both! Both is good, as the gif says.
On a related note, I know I’ve mentioned the west coast/ new England book tour a few times. After talking to a few folks, I’m probably going to let that simmer for a few months. Most places aren’t going to be start setting their fall schedules until mid-summer at best, so trying to plan a lot before then is kind of silly. But I’ve made note of the places some of you suggested, and I’ll probably be asking you all again in... July? August? Somewhere around there.
Also, my early readers for TOS have given me their thoughts and notes and overall they’re... really good. They don’t think it’s flawless (everybody had a few critical observations, and most of them were spot-on), but for the most part they were creeped out at the right points, laughed a lot at the right points, and... well, got misdirected at all the points I’d wanted them to be. So I’m going over the manuscript again with a lot of their notes in mind, then a quick polish, and... well, my agent will probably have this before the next newsletter.
I finished that comic script (finally) and the editor and I are bouncing around a few artist names. It’s still a ways off, but I thought some of you might want to know.
Many thanks to all of you who came out during the mini-signing tour for Combat Monsters. Was great to see people and talk about Carter & Kraft. And I think some of those talks actually got me thinking about another story for our two intrepid WWII heroes...
On a semi-related note, at the end of March I’m going to be at WonderCon in Anaheim. I’m part of a Sunday morning panel on Writing Blended Genres, then a book signing right after that, and then I’m probably going to be wandering the floor, talking to folks and looking at cool things. Maybe I’ll see you there?
What else can I tell you about?
Cool Stuff I’ve Been Watching
A couple days after sending the last newsletter we watched Flow, the now-Oscar-winning animated movie about a cat and a capybara and look it’s just amazing, okay? The movie itself and the story behind the movie. Academy Award very well-deserved. My beloved and I are caught up on Severance and holy crap what amazing show! Also, it’s not so much “watching” but we’ve been binging Midnight Burger off a friend’s recommendation. It’s about the staff of a time-raveling, dimension-hopping diner, and if you like my stuff I think you’ll really enjoy it.
Cool Stuff I’ve Been Reading
I’m late to the party, but my to-read pile finally coughed up Assassins Anonymous and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Currently about two-thirds through Craig DiLouie’s new one, My Ex-The Antichrist, which comes out this summer It’s about a guitarist who discovers her ex-bandmate-and-boyfriend is the actual son of Satan destined to destroy the world. After that I’ve got a blurb book and then (also long overdue) John Wiswell’s Someone You Can Build A Nest In.
Cool New Toys
Not a lot of new toys physically in hand this month. My beloved gave me a Gundam Guncannon model for Valentine’s Day, because somewhere along the line she started giving me a red robot every year. I took advantage of the Spero warehouse sale and grabbed a few Animal Warriors figures to customize and/or add to my Horrid army. I preordered a few things and backed a fun Kickstarter for Space Zombies from Mars action figures because, hey... who doesn’t like zombie astronauts, right?
Okay, I think that’s all for now. As always, thanks for reading. See you next time next month.
