February 1, 2023
Emotional State: Muddling Through
Writing & Life
Today is a sad day. It’s the first day without the kid at home. It’s been three months of laughter, shared adventures, and heart to heart talks. The emptiness of the house is overwhelming, but it’s time for them to start their life back in Australia after a gap year off. I’m excited for what is to come for them, which is the only solace I feel at this point.
To stay busy, I’ve created a gargantuan list of tasks for February to get ready for the launch of book 2 in my Space Between urban fantasy series, The Dark Space Between. It’s due to publish in early March and there is a ton still to do.
I spent two hours just finding original sources for the literary quotes I have in the book. I love the quotes, but, oh boy, are the sources hard to find. I could spend hours talking about translations, changes people make to quotes when they’re posted online, and how difficult it is to find the original source for quotes from the 1700 and 1800s, but I won’t. Suffice to say, I’ve found them all, even if it almost killed me to do so.
This month is final edits on book 2, launch promotions, posts, and general updating of all the things. I feel like I have this massive list buzzing around my head like angry bees, but I know it’ll get easier as I check things off. The book is in good shape, but I still have to format it, check it again, post it to Amazon, check it again, finalize the dreaded blurb, check it again, and update all my media with the new book cover.
I’m also sorting out my newsletter. There’s so much I don’t share that I think I should, so taking the time to create a list will help narrow down the necessary and unnecessary. I’ve also been thinking about creating a separate newsletter for book reviews and genre discussions, since I’m already doing that.
Add to that updating the backlinks for book 1, The Deep Space Between, promoting all the books, finalizing a few nonfiction posts, taxes, and replacing the now smashed mirror in our bathroom, and it feels daunting. But life goes on, even when we want to stop its marching.
But man, I wish I could.