Hello, everyone.

This may be a bit disjointed, and if so, I apologize. I caught a bug last week (thank you autocorrect, I did not catch a but) which laid me flat over the weekend, and even though I’m no longer ill, I’m still struggling massively with energy and brain fog. I hit the wall halfway through the workday, and yet, there was still a lot to be done. So here I am.

Also, I tend to lose words when my brain fogs up and my sinuses get icky. We’ll see how this goes.

I’d like to say this past month has been a month of rest, but that’s not the right term for it. I’ve continued to be busy—very busy—but I’ve been doing things that had been put off in the past in favor of spending time on editing and angsting about writing.

I’ve put in my first orders for merchandise (stickers, keychains, and notecards)—I blogged a bit about it while musing about graphic design (tumblr | pillowfort). I still have a lot to do for finalizing business setup, and ordering more things (once I finish designing them), but I have also signed up for my first market at the end of June. I have a due date! This will help keep me moving and getting everything in order.

I’ve been baking! I have found an excellent ciabatta recipe, and adapted a focaccia recipe for pizza. Being gluten free, bread products are a bit of a nightmare, so finding things that not only work for me, but also for my gluten-loving spouse is really exciting. I’ve only written one blog post about this so far (tumblr | pillowfort) but I hope to blog more about my baking adventures. We are making the pizza again this weekend, so I’ll try to take good pics and write it up as we make two large tray pizzas to serve the entire family for my dad’s birthday celebration.

Also, we finally purchased the necessary shelving to finish our basement library. We’ve put in most of it already, and unpacked quite a lot of books that have been buried for uhhhh a really long time. I’m also working on rotating things around the house, trying to get all items to be stored in appropriate rooms. This is going to allow us to better utilize our space in general, better find things, and I might even have my office as an organized space that is no longer filled with all the random crap people store in it. (What a concept, right?) The goal in the library is to end up with no shelf more than double-stacked. Yes, with half the shelving, all the paperbacks that were on shelves were triple-stacked. It made it hard to find things. Or organize them.

You may be wondering: where’s the writing in all this?

On hold. I am letting my brain take a break while other necessary things get done without guilt. That’s been a large part of the problem. I’ve been spinning in place, unable to do anything because I knew I was delaying the writing and editing I should be doing.

So I decided to let it go for a bit, and get everything else done. Refresh my brain. Live without guilt and recover, so when I’m ready to make words again, I am also able to make words again.

And let me say, being crafty and creative and organizing things really feels good.

Oooh, one of the things I did recently was purchasing a magnifying light and pinpoint soldering kit so I can make jewelry that is more likely to hold up to handling, as well as adding charms to notebooks when I order those. I get to learn a new skill!

Yes, my market table will be an eclectic blend of all kinds of things. I also want to make some cute, nerdy amigurumi. 

What’s been interesting in all this is looking at my wall of sticky notes with my quarterly (and other future) goals. Other than the stickies for the Kickstarter for ITS, none of the PHU stickies have come down, nor the ones for Seven Lakes. But a lot of house stickies and business stickies have been pulled as accomplished. Which feels good, because those have been lingering for a while.

I haven’t done my Q2 planning yet (yes, I am well aware Q2 begins in two days), but I expect it to be primarily focused on social media, crafting, and business setup. 

Wait… what about ITS?

Oh yes, yes, the ITS Kickstarter followup! Much of the merch has arrived, and the books are on their way. As soon as all the pieces are in place, I’ll be heading over to sign books and help pack. I’m so excited to get this into the hands of everyone who has ordered!

And for those may not have ordered, or who may be interested in other things I have written…

Ducks in a Row & Duxxx in a Row

Duck Prints Press just launched (today!) a new Kickstarter for two anthologies—one general, one spicy—full of short stories that have been sold singly by the press prior to now. Both books are a fantastic sampling across the authors from the press, and yes, I have a story in each anthology!

A Curated Collection of Short Stories

I think that covers all the current news… 

Where’s Tris?

My next convention will be Balticon in May down in Baltimore. I’m waiting to hear back on my panels—all my potential selections have been submitted! After that it’ll be a bit of a break before we’ll be at Philcon in November.

I am taking a break from Readercon this year due to expenses, but hope to be able to take a look at it again next year.

If you are local, I’ve signed up for the Troy Pride Night Out market on Friday June 26th, so come see me there! Duck Prints Press will also be in attendance with all of their fantastic books and merch.

In the meantime, find me on social media if you want to chit-chat or just hear me natter on about life, writing, and fandom. I’m tryslora everywhere!