What's Up Wednesdays

What’s Up Wednesdays is a blog hop hosted weekly by Jamie Morrow and Erin Funk to help authors network. You can find the rest of the WUW blog hop here


WHAT I'M READING I I just finished Geist by Phillippa Ballantine and I really enjoyed it. It’s a fantasy story with a hint of steampunk and featured a strong female character. I’m just starting Until Thy Wrath Be Past by Asa larsson, a Scandinavian msytery and Wheel of Stars by Andre Norton, an old urban fantasy I pulled off my 30+ year old TBR pile.
And I just got this one in exchange for a review so I might put it ahead of the Larsson one. Murder on the Lake by Bruce Beckham. I do love a mystery.

WHAT I'M WRITING (+ ONE WRITING GOAL) *
I met one goal and failed on the other. I’m waiting on a couple first readers for Blood Red Roulette where maybe going back to that original idea was NOT a great idea after all. Right now the decision is split but I’m not in the mood to work on it.

I finished a A Wolf in the Fold and I sent it out. I’m happy. I didn't keep track of word count this week because mostly I edited.

My goal for next week is to work more on Blood Red Roulette and well just plain anything. It’s been a bad terrible awful week. I don’t see a better one on the horizon. If I get anything done, I’ll be happy.


WHAT WORKS FOR ME I’m skipping this one this week because nothing is. We’re only 8 weeks into this year but I’ve seen a half dozen deaths (two in my family, others friends). Work is imploding as are most colleges out there. It’s a terrible time to be a professor. I’m too stressed out to really know what is working.


WHAT ELSE IS NEW
Tooth still broken. I’m supposed to have a root canal and temporary crown put on tomorrow. We’re supposed to get a foot of snow tonight. Gaah.
The Writer Recharge is over and you can click that link to see my month of progress.

As mentioned I sent out a short story and to a new publisher so that’s fun. My usual publisher is prepping me to get my first round of novel edits. HOLD ME. This is always so brutal. Necessary. Helpful. But brutal.

And what’s new is my honorary grandfather and childhood role model is gone. I’m still very upset over the death of Leonard Nimoy. I’ve mentioned on my blog how much he meant to me. When he offered over twitter to be an honorary grandfather to people, I felt that connection. I am as sad about him as I am about some of the deaths of people I actually was related to. He and my grandmother who passed on in January died of the same thing. COPD. I hope his passing was less…scary. My grandmother would have been 100 in a few months but that didn’t mean she was ready to go.

When we got the call to come in, I wanted to go. Mom was rather adamant I stay home. Since it was her mother, I did as she asked. I had seen Grandma the day before. One of the last things she said to me was ‘All my friends are dead.’ She was gone within 36 hours of that. And she was afraid. She couldn’t catch her breath because of that disease and she knew and was afraid. I’ve sat with many people and watched them die in my first career as a doctor. I often sat and held the hands of the dying if their family couldn’t get there. I’ve seen that fear. I’ve also seen that peace. I have a couple chronic illnesses. I’m not sure I will be afraid to go but who can say.

So that’s what’s new here. My life is a downer and okay, that’s not new but it’s been bad this week. However, if you made it this far let me leave you with this beautiful thought from Leonard Nimoy. It’s something I want to do even more of.