rolanni | To send a wagon for thy minstrel (Reply)

So, it's been a while since we've chatted. My excuse is -- page proofs arrived for the mass market edition of Accepting the Lance (to be published on October 27), and needed to be proofread. No sooner than had we sent them back, then the copy edits for Trader's Leap (to be published on December 1) landed, and that's what I'm occupying myself with at the moment.

In-between All That, Steve and I have had several, err, creative meetings -- to dignify a process that involves a lot of hand-waving, staring out of windows, pitching random scenes and sentences, and refilling the wine glasses -- regarding the next book under contract.

Those of you who have been following along will perhaps recall that The Original Plan had Steve as lead on the next book, while I had needed surgery on my left foot, and held myself ready to consult, taking up the duties of Staff once I was fit, and also working on a side book. I may not have said that outloud, about the side book, but that was part of The Original Plan.

It is here that we insert: The best laid schemes o'mice an' men gang aft agley.

We started well enough. Then, in January, there was a funky mammogram, which meant biopsies of both breasts, only one of which had been invaded by cancer; followed by a mastectomy in mid-March, and a course of radiation therapy, which ended in mid-June, when I started taking a prescribed aromatase inhibitor, which produced crippling side effects. We're now in the phase of letting that med leave my system before we try another one.

Otherwise, I'm pretty much recovered, absent the fact that I'm having some memory and cognitive issues, which I'm told will improve, in good time.

And then of course, there are the on-going shared threats to health, liberty, and life that we are all dealing with.

During all of this, Steve was Front, whose expanded duties included driving me to radiation therapy -- a 266 mile round trip -- every weekday, making sure we were fed, laundered, and up-to-date.

The book languished. We missed one deadline, and were on track to missing the second, extended, deadline.

Thus, the creative meeting. Which led to the realization that we needed to start again.

We spoke to Madame the Agent, who spoke to Madame the Publisher. Between us all, we worked out a new delivery date, in 2021. So, this is your Distant Early Warning: There will likely not be a new Liaden book published in 2021. A Miracle may occur -- it would not be the first time that Madame the Publisher has pulled a rabbit out of her hat, but that's not the way the smart money ought to bet.

Today's blog title is brought to you by Hildegard von Blingen, covering Gotye's "Somebody that I Used to Know." Here's your link.