hands on

 Do I hear myself promising I won't do that again? That sleeve for the tablet was conceived in a frenzy to have anything to do with my hands.  It was a predictably lackluster failure that will get recycled.

Looking through the river basket for inspiration, I see that it's been stocked with some pretty dark pickings for the next project. Something along the lines of Night Gardener I'll take the time to compose with the same compass headings as the book I'm laying out. Dark and scary. I think a title change is in order, too. The Monkeytown Murders feels almost lighthearted. Considering what frightens people most is challenging.

no regrets

Shock

 You have seen many pictures of House Lacativa over the years. No close-ups ever. This charming misty-eyed view was so photogenic. 

We've been ducking the truth for many years. This little house needs big love now and lots of it.

Step one accomplished, as shocking as it was needful. Several dangerous trees and mountains of out-of-control shrubbery have been removed by an amazing team of professionals. 

For two days, I've been lurking from room to room watching. Every now and then, one of them would give me a wave or a smile. They have to be used to it.

I even have video of them taking down the monster tree that has been looming over my pool for years. Last year a chunk of it fell and damaged the liner. I think that incident was the impetus for all of this. The thought of losing my blue heaven spurred me through the nine circles of hell I had to go through to get the mortgage refinanced and put some of the equity to work.

We are now a clean, if scruffy, slate. The house faces east and I feel like a vampire shrinking from the light blazing in. There are still two great trees out front, just not in this frame. 

I'll be buying new blinds for the kitchen first thing tomorrow. Next, a call to the siding company that came up with the best, if not the lowest bid. Everyone wants to sell us Hardiplank, which is fiendishly expensive. Given that the next owners are most likely to tear this already fifty-year-old house down and build something from scratch on this generous 4/5ths of an acre, I'm not going crazy. Vinyl is final and will do just fine. It will still be House Lacativa for many years to come. I think we'll go with white. 

Independence Day

First, some music: 

It takes a long song to do a drama justice. And three books to tell the story I wanted to write because I was told that you just can't print an 800-page book and not lose money. 

It's entirely coincidental that Prophets Tango is finally up on Amazon on Independence Day. I won't even muse about that.

 It won't kick live until July 30, but you can preorder ebooks here. Print editions as soon as I can figure that out. 

The KDP interface is unkind to rookies. It took me days to get things right and I have until the 25th to tinker, but for the moment, I'd like to just step away and listen to some music. Be quiet inside, manage expectations, and fortify against reading reviews. I'd like to swear that the only reviews I'll read will have to be telegrams or snail mail. As if. 

I'm frittering, the archaic usage, sort of. An emotional state where you vibrate between feelings so fast that you can't react. Relief, exhilaration, exhaustion, anxiety, and the spiraling twin moths of tristesse and saudade. It figures I'd have to go to languages other than English for those last two. 

I gave in to them, had a good cry, and got on with it. Life.

Charlie and his other Gramma were here for a swim. I'll join them later for burgers and fireworks.

 

 

Priorities

I found a nearly ready-to-go sleeve for the new tablet tucked into the top shelf of the little wicker tower beside the stitching chair. I accidentally dyed a cousin of those two bridal envelopes, this one just a bit larger than the tablet. All it needs is a little fitting, some padding and lining, and maybe an embroidered spell or two. Low priority stuff.

Reluctant to start anything as I'm watching over Sweetie to see how breakfast is going to sit (or not) with her today. It's Colin's birthday and I have to wake him after only a few hours of sleep so he can hold Sweetie for a trip to the vet, her first in ten years, I think. 

Editor and mentor Grace tells me that the files for Prophets Tango are ready to go. I can pull the trigger any time to publish electronically. Something this slacker should have been up to speed on by now. It's waited this long, it can wait until after the vet visit when I can give the process the necessary attention. 

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.