One year and 16 days ago I said, “I really hope that my next update is, “hooray, my kids are vaccinated!!” 

😒

I didn’t realize there would be delay after delay, staggering kids out a handful at a time for a solid year after adults got their shots, BUT SO IT WAS, and HERE WE ARE, and today at long fucking last, my youngest child is getting her first covid vaccine!!

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Tada and hooray and party poppers galore!

I have one niece who still needs an appointment, but she is eligible, we’re here, most of the country moved on and tried getting back to normal in the meantime, but whatever, you do you, I spent an extra year at home nervously testing every runny nose. I’m going to continue staying mostly home and testing every runny nose, but if the virus catches up to us at last, I at least want to go in with the best armor we’ve got.

Last time I was here I declared OPERATION: KEEP BUSY, and it is true, I’ve been hella busy, there are five kids in the house and I keep overcommitting at the day job (did I even mention that one year ago I picked up a very part time day job??). I’ve also made a heck of a lot of crochet animals, sent a second book off to my agent, and sat around for a lot of hours crying to my husband that I’m still not getting enough done.

It’s my way.

In the interest of being honest about my abilities and the amount of free time available to me, I’m extending my short story hiatus to focus on my next book. My brain just can’t split in any more directions, so this week I’m trying to finish my last in-progress short story draft– and if I don’t get it done, oh well Sam, it has to go on hold. Then I’m going to spend two weeks in research and outline mode to flesh out some vague worldbuilding in Sam’s Sea Monster Book #1 (working title), AND THEN I am going away for a 48-hour writing retreat to get some momentum going on the draft.

After much hemming and hawing, I think I have the voice of the first main character (there are four):

I am excite. 🤓