Nuts and bolts. Nails and screws.

 

Thunderstorms are lurking outside. Perfect day for settling in and tackling the gritty details of getting the book ready to publish. My task is to review each page of both print and e-versions of all three books. 1600 pages, give or take, make notes on anything in the presentation that looks wrong or awkward. Triple check ISBNs, links, etc. NOT reading it because: 

A. I start wondering who wrote this (good and bad) and get caught up in it, or 

B. God forbid I find something I want to change. Again. That activity could go on forever, so just don't go there.

Simultaneously, I learn to use a Chromebook which folds to become a tablet with a touchscreen. And Kindle and Dropbox and...new technology is exhausting. Thank Prime day and all the 'Zon competitors for making me a deal I couldn't refuse. 

I want to make a padded cloth sleeve for it, but that would be another couple of hours of procrastination that I can't afford. Maybe tomorrow when Charlie Monday resumes.

There was a great meeting with a good friend. For three hours we occupied a booth in an old favorite restaurant- an in-depth pandemic catch up. Talking about Prophets Tango and the other books waiting in the wings sparked something in me that's been on hold for a while. Writing with a purpose. But for now, this stuff. 

My main website needs to be torn down and rebuilt it with the focus being on the book. They say coding is like riding a horse, you don't forget how, but first I have to find the horse.

I also had a great conversation with a potential reader. This self-described Millenial was not who I was thinking about as a target audience, but she had some good news for me. They are rabid readers. "KU hoes" as one Book-tokker put it. Yes, I signed on with TikTok because this young woman advised me that the marketing potential of that app is enormous. People who do nothing but short videos reviewing new books have huge followings of book-hungry readers. 

The rest of TT is pretty repellent. I don't know what drives the content to me but for ten minutes this morning, I rolled through dozens of clips of unattractive people doing mean things for the sake of filming them. The general tone is ugly, mean-spirited, and cruel. 

Glad I don't have to be user to take advantage of it.  

Meanwhile, renovations at Casa Lacativa grind on. One day next week, the landscaping company will be here. I wish I could be elsewhere while it happens, but that's not what a good GC does. 

What Summer is for

 

We stayed up late. Ate popsicles. Slept in, then waited for the sun, who delivered in spades by noon.

I couldn't cut those vintage linen towels up so they are working for us. As intended.

For the Solstice

 

Studio cleanup

 

Valiant effort yesterday. I can even see the navy blue carpet and most of the work table. 

The trouble started when I open the closet and took out the river basket. The intention was to empty my little project bag into the river basket, but both were already overflowing. So I start started weeding both out putting a good portion of each into the basket that I pick Fat Baggies from.

Then I got crazy.

 I made up a bunch of scrap bags each with two random skeins of Dirty Thread. Each mystery bag is $35 including postage in the US. Email me.

All that heavy weight linen I have, acres of it? None of it went into the scrap basket because it's not hand stitch friendly. Even after dyeing. I tested two squares and just gave up hand hemming them into kitchen towels. 

It takes the dye well. Would make good tote bags. But the plan is to break out that heavy duty Singer 99k and make a big deck sail. After the trees that loom over the pool are gone next week, it will hopefully give us some shade. I won't waste dye on it. 

storm season

 Tropical storm Claudette will be on us soon. A week of clouds and rain, some heavy they say. The plants and wildlife around here are grateful. 

From the stitching chair, there was a brief splash of sun before the cloud cover solidified.  I held this piece of cotton up to the light and did my best to capture what my eye was seeing.

Some times there are pieces that you cannot cut, use, give away, or sell. This is one. 

I was folding and putting away all the cloth that's come of the latest dye sessions. Taking some time to make some order here in the studio and life in general. 

The store will be closed for a summer vacation. 

Writing and family stuff taking precedence for a while. One thing I've learned, cloth and thread are patient.