Here, there, and everywhere
Where have I been, you ask? The answer is not home, for the most part. I’m the pet/housesitter of choice for my wider friend group, and a lot of people have been traveling this spring—I spent a week and then most of a month in the Seattle area, attended Norwescon, and spent a lot of time running back and forth to my house here in the upper left corner of the map. I chopped most of my hair off in the next phase of growing out my natural color (phase 3 comes in July) and I’ve barely been getting any writing done.
The rest of this month is similarly busy with slightly more local travel—Victoria, Poulsbo, and a visit from my mom.
This summer’s not going to let up on the travel. I’m going to be back and forth to Seattle on a regular basis in June and July, attending Clarion West readings and gatherings and doing some more housesitting along the way.
Writing is always a challenge for me when I’m traveling like this—I thrive on routine, and any disruptions in that routine mean that I have a lot less energy for creative things, because I’m using that energy to cope. I’m consciously developing my arsenal of things I can deploy when disruptions happen, though, and I’m starting to make a little bit of headway. I think.
Anyway, work continues apace (when I have time and energy) on The Saint of the Splendid Bullfrog. Spending some time away from the novel has actually been good for me; I was in the mid-book doldrums, but going back to it I can see where the energy of the book was sagging, and I have ideas for fixing it.
Dispatches will continue intermittently, I fear, but rest assured that I am still alive and still working.
(The picture is the view from my new house–I love living where I can see the ocean.)
