I’ve had some pretty alarming symptoms of incipient burnout, including crashing out at least once, between personal and global concerns. As though in sympathy, one of my tires burst just a few months after fixing another wheel issue. Instead of medical fees, my bank account is suffering from tire and wheel replacements.

Writing work is like pulling teeth. No sleep is enough. I haven’t worked out in over a month, if you don’t count playing pickleball. I do know that I have to take a rest and soon, or else something in my brain or body is going to break instead.

News:

In the Dollhouse We All Wait has been doing pretty well in Amazon ratings and in preliminary reviews, considering the subject matter.

Works in Progress:

Just finished the first round of edits from my publisher for Never & Forever (Meridian Book 8). Last week, we had family in town, which is wonderful but exhausting, and it made finishing the work really difficult. I promised it by this week, though, and delivered. I have the proofreading round left to go. Then I’ll be done with the book and the series. I’m ready to be done, but I’m not ready for the Meridian-verse to be over, which means I can’t win.

Probably from now until I get the proofreading back, I’ll mostly read and get A Nightmare for All Seasons out there once I have the cover/paperback wrap. Maybe run through the Dracula reimagining one more time to tweak a few things that crossed my mind. Only when Meridian is over will I head into May Cooler Heads Prevail.

But seriously, though, post-Meridian, I need to have no deadlines for a while. Just everything in its own time, if at all.

Books I’m Reading:

Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin
The Shining by Stephen King
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Things I’m Listening To:

GEMS
Sea Stars
Cajsa Silk
Meridian playlist
Let’s Hear It for the Girls playlist

Things I’m Watching:

Pig
Abigail
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Matlock (new) series
Queer Eye series
Watson series
Tracker series
Prodigal Son series
Home Town series

Poem of the Week:

The soil has opinions on the fertilizer,
the buds an argument over optimal sunlight,
while the wasps and bees do battle for
pollination rights and the aphids object to marigolds.
Rats wait in the wings for dead of night,
while hornworms munch through screaming fruit.