In which the author checks in

What on earth has the woman been doing? you ask.

Well, in-between getting thrown out of our house on a semi-regular basis in order to allow strangers to come through and upset the cats, and compiling a list of houses that we think might be possible to shift to, when the Time for Shifting is upon us. . .

Allow me to digress for a moment -- we have a list of houses from low-cost to what we consider to be the highest mortgage payment we can afford (which is still manymanyMANY dollar$ below what the bank, in its financial wisdom, says it believes we can afford).  Houses keep coming onto and being voted off of the island, with the exception of. . .two, I believe, which have been there from the beginning.  Sadly, both are at the top of what we can afford.

The low-cost houses are generally in edgy neighborhoods and tend, as a class, to be ugly.  The high-end houses sure are pretty, but there is perhaps something to be said for not buying a house that our furniture will embarrass.  One of the things in common with all the houses, however, is the presence, in the kitchen, of a dishwasher.   This is particularly poignant as one of my early morning tasks today was to wash the dishes I didn't do yesterday because I was writing.  I have never in my life owned, or used, a dishwasher, and I do wonder how I'll know that I'm working without the validation of that sink full of dishes.

Well. . .changes.

So -- back on topic -- mostly what I've been doing is writing.  Dragon in Exile is due at Baen on September 15.  We sent a partial -- about 71,000 words -- to the cover artist, and I'm pleased to let you know that David Mattingly will be doing the cover.  We're now up to, oh, 76-ish,000 words in the "final" pile.  I still have some stuff to write, in addition to having about 15,000 pre-written words in the bag, so we're on track, even though the hood's still up, there are pieces strewn all over the floor, and it all looks a fright.

I took a break yesterday to watch the stream of the Hugo Awards Ceremony from LonCon 3.  The stream was flawless (there was some crankiness because the film clips were not available to the stream, but, given last year's bot-driven fiasco, I think the LonCon committee made the right choice).  For those who did not attend, or watch the ceremony, the final Hugo Award List is here.  Congratulations to all the winners!

And, now, having caught y'all up; I need to go Serve Feline Kind by cleaning the cat fountain, and then?  I need to do some writing.

What've you been doing that's fun and interesting?

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Progress on Dragon in Exile:  GOOD/Author satisfied

"I must sleep more often," Val Con said.  "Only see what prodigies I inspire."