Hollyhock of Leave
Sep. 20th, 2021 10:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ismoLong-distance communication is a wonderful thing . . . and yet . . . ya know . . . THERE CAN BE TOO FLIPPING MUCH OF A GOOD THING. Just saying. Because today I talked to Queenie in the morning, and then had a LONG conversation with my editor, and then a chat with another friend, and THEN in the evening, yet another hour-long Zoom thing. I'm tapped out. That's not even counting the various texts and emails I have dealt with. I have another thing pending that someone wants to know about, but I'm not answering that email right now. I don't trust myself to make any good decisions at this point, because I'm just grouchy. While I was in the middle of my longest call, another friend texted me wanting information about someone to fix their garage door. Luckily, by the time I was able to focus on this, she had solved her own problem.
The good result of my Zoom with the editor is that I have another job, which hopefully will be something enjoyable. He had talked about having me write a novella, but they've decided to have me do a novel instead, which I much prefer. Novellas are almost as much work, even though they're shorter. And I'll get paid more. Also, it's a novel about Dejah Thoris. I love some old-school Dejah Thoris, and I hope I'll be able to come up with some good adventures for her to have, turned loose on Barsoom. And again also, I will finally get a hardcover of my very own, which I can put on the shelf next to my friend the Nonesuch's novel about John Carter! I'm enjoying the euphoria that one feels before actually having to come up with a chapter-by-chapter synopsis, ugh ugh.
There was all kinds of writing-related stuff going on in the house today. While I was on Zoom in the family room, the Sparrowhawk was with his brother Fritz in the living room. A couple of years ago, the Sparrowhawk and Baby Doc, the other brother, decided to help Fritz get his collected meditations based on back-roads Michigan tours into book form, as a birthday gift. There has been a lot of back and forth between the Sparrowhawk and Fritz in the editing and formatting process. Today they were both working on the final stages. It was the kind of thing that can be done long-distance, but it's easier when you're side by side in real time. My contribution was to make them some fat ham sandwiches with pickles and chips. It had come to my attention that Fritz had eaten only a doughnut, and it is not acceptable for a guest in my house to drive across the state on an empty stomach.
The Sparrowhawk was going to make dinner, but the editing went on too long, as it almost always does. So while he went off to the gym, I got out the big red pan and cooked some pork steaks and bratwurst, with potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, and cabbage. I may have made it a little too spicy, with barbecue sauce and a sprinkle of jerk seasoning. The jury's still out on that.
The good result of my Zoom with the editor is that I have another job, which hopefully will be something enjoyable. He had talked about having me write a novella, but they've decided to have me do a novel instead, which I much prefer. Novellas are almost as much work, even though they're shorter. And I'll get paid more. Also, it's a novel about Dejah Thoris. I love some old-school Dejah Thoris, and I hope I'll be able to come up with some good adventures for her to have, turned loose on Barsoom. And again also, I will finally get a hardcover of my very own, which I can put on the shelf next to my friend the Nonesuch's novel about John Carter! I'm enjoying the euphoria that one feels before actually having to come up with a chapter-by-chapter synopsis, ugh ugh.
There was all kinds of writing-related stuff going on in the house today. While I was on Zoom in the family room, the Sparrowhawk was with his brother Fritz in the living room. A couple of years ago, the Sparrowhawk and Baby Doc, the other brother, decided to help Fritz get his collected meditations based on back-roads Michigan tours into book form, as a birthday gift. There has been a lot of back and forth between the Sparrowhawk and Fritz in the editing and formatting process. Today they were both working on the final stages. It was the kind of thing that can be done long-distance, but it's easier when you're side by side in real time. My contribution was to make them some fat ham sandwiches with pickles and chips. It had come to my attention that Fritz had eaten only a doughnut, and it is not acceptable for a guest in my house to drive across the state on an empty stomach.
The Sparrowhawk was going to make dinner, but the editing went on too long, as it almost always does. So while he went off to the gym, I got out the big red pan and cooked some pork steaks and bratwurst, with potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, and cabbage. I may have made it a little too spicy, with barbecue sauce and a sprinkle of jerk seasoning. The jury's still out on that.
