book(s) update

I'm finally getting things under control again. The camping gear is stowed (mostly--I still have some mending to do), I'm steadily mucking out the house, and the garden seems to be thriving. I'm even working in study time, which I need to crank up if I'm going to finish my Certificate this year.

I've been getting some feedback from beta readers. Faithful Paco has finished in first place and provided valuable insight. This project has been so big and convoluted that I've really needed fresh eyes to look it over. I'm in the process of fixing things, concentrating mainly on Rogue Pawn when possible so I can put together the query package. We decided it made more sense to pitch Rogue Pawn first, with Sword and Scabbard as the sequel to both The Dragon's Lady and Rogue Pawn. I'm going to be very glad to have this project done. I don't know that I want to do a series again for a long while. Maybe it would be easier if I was doing it by myself, but I'd have to come up with some way to keep the details straight. That's my biggest challenge right now. Well, that, and getting the darn thing done.

I got to thinking the other night, when I was beating myself up about the lack of productivity in July, that July is always a busy month for me. Maybe it would make sense to plan not to write in July and December. At least for now, I could build time off into my writing schedule. My theory is that if I know I'm taking a month off, I'll be more likely to push to finish things faster. I need deadlines to get anything done. Hopefully in the future that won't be an option, but for now it could work.

Attack of the Killer Zucchini

This is what I found when I got back from the rendezvous. They look rather innocuous, really, but they all took both hands to pick and were all at least a foot long. The zucchini vines were threatening to take over the yard and had to be tamed.

The irony: the past few summers have been hot and dry, and there was no sign of drought relief, so early last spring, I bought and installed two 60-gallon rain barrels so my garden could have rain water. They were full to overflowing within a week or so, although that was by design. I kept them in the garage until several days of rain were predicted so they would fill quickly. They have been full ever since because this is the wettest year we've had since we moved here four years ago. Apparently I need to plan for contingencies better, so my next house will have a large basement with a well-stocked tornado/fallout shelter, I'll keep my rain barrels, and plan to store several snow shovels near the front of the garage.

And I think I won't plant zucchini.