July

 Another reason I hate housework (see "June") is that every time I engage in a pitched battle against my old Victorian, I end up losing in some way. This time, it was bronchitis turned pneumonia. I've spent four weeks recovering from that, although it was a mild case, what my mom always called "walking pneumonia."

Just before that, though, I had the pleasant experience of attending a book launch for the New Jersey Bards Poetry Review 2022 where my poem "Elsinboro: the Delaware 1965" received wonderful plaudits from some really talented folks. I managed to get through the reading without coughing, too, so, yay me for that!

I spent a bit of my down time submitting old pieces and writing short pieces to submit to themed openings. I've already received a few very nice rejections, all of them positive. I am anxious about my novel submissions, though; I'm hoping the world is ready for Gwynna Lionshadow.

I finished up Book 4 in the Twins of Bellesfées series, and like a good zombie flick, it ends on a
pessimistic note. 

I took the time to calibrate its events with the previous books, and double-checked facts about choking on vomit with my gastroenterologist (ah, the look on her face!).

I find when I finish a book's first draft, I experience a kind of grief or depression. I wonder if other writers experience this? It's probably a sign I'm an unpublished (so far) novelist with too many insecurities. I know authors who work on multiple projects at once and have constant story ideas flowing, so finishing a novel probably feels like a great relief so they can concentrate on other projects.

Despite vowing I wouldn't even think about the Twins of Bellesfées in Wales, I couldn't abandon Jacqueline or de Guise. So, I went ahead and started Book 5 ~ Esprit d'Escalier. I think it will be Jacqueline and the Cŵn Annwn, or at least a Ci Annwn, and the ghosts of Harddwch, and a great gale that shipwrecks on the Swanscombe beaches... That's as far as I have.

Stay tuned!