So, I had some stuff to blog about...

but we got some pretty bad news the other day about my father's health, a first diagnosis of bone cancer. We'll know more after tomorrow, when he sees a cancer specialist.

As you can imagine, the whole family is devastated. Mama is almost done with the chemo treatments for her breast cancer, and we had been looking forward to celebrating.

Now this, in my normally perfectly healthy Daddy. We are so sad, but trying to think positively.

I'll be back to post later this week, Gentle Readers. Until then, carry on and think love.

Taming the wild typo, and other adventures.

Finally, some good news from the front lines! We are successfully hunting down and eliminating the final holdouts from the typo rebels. Publication nears. Rejoice! Rejoice!

This book has really been kicking my butt. I've rewritten the first chapter four or more times, just since the "final" draft. It will probably get another look, but I'm concentrating on getting the typos, misspellings, and wrong word choices fixed.

At this rate, it looks like I'll be done by the end of the first week of October, if not sooner. Exciting news, I know.

On a related note, I've finally gotten a cover that I can be happy with, and that will coordinate with later books. I'm not sure what the problem was, I know I couldn't find stock art that fit the book. So I kept looking, and then I saw something on Flickr, and it just clicked.

I'll post a preview and maybe the first chapter as soon as I get closer to publication day. Maybe even sooner. Happy happy dance going on down here!

A quick update on Mama's cancer treatment:  I took her yesterday to see the doctor who will be doing her radiation. She'll get radiation everyday for six weeks, starting next week, I think.

Mama's feeling much better since getting a transfusion and starting the new chemotherapy regimen. We went out to lunch and even hit a couple of thrift stores yesterday after leaving the doctor's office. Her hair is starting to grow back, also.

So much good news, and I don't even have a lucky rabbit's foot.

Until next time, Gentle Readers. Take care and enjoy the Autumn weather.

Where did the summer go?

Gosh, time has flown by this year. It's already the last day of August, fall is just around the corner, and my baby is officially an adult.

Yes, Sk8monkey turned 18 on the 25th. Now it's time to register for Selective Service (and, no, he has no interest in the military) and get his driver's license renewed. Graduation will be here before I know it, and then it's off to college.

I kind of miss my baby, you know?

Here's one of my infamous blurry pictures taken last month. I just noticed he didn't have sheets on the bed!  Wonder where they went?


On the good news front, Mama has taken her last "hard" chemo treatment, and will be put on what her doctors say is a less-harsh regimen. She's certainly glad of that, as she has been having an increasingly harder time handling the effects. But we are almost half way through the process, so that light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.

I'm still chugging along on the writing front, getting closer to having a good final product for the novel, and two short stories that I've been piddling with for a while are closer to being finished. In my spare time I'm teaching myself how to use Photoshop CS6--it's an amazing program that I hope to be able to, well, not master, but at least become proficient at using.

So there you have it, Gentle Readers, another long tale from a middle-aged, working mom. This is a three day weekend for us US folks, so take care and remember the workers of the world.

No, you're eyes aren't deceiving you.

That's right. I'm posting again. Now, I know what you're thinking--what in the world could she be rambling on about now? This is going to be disappointing, but it's just the usual stuff.

snore

Oh, buck up now. It's not that bad. And this isn't one of the signs of the Apocalypse.

Wait. Maybe... No, I'm pretty sure it's not.


I do have some news about my mother, who is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Up til now, she'd been doing pretty good, but this past week has really been rough. She started throwing up, so she got dehydrated.

When she called to cancel an appointment, she was told to come in and let a doctor get some blood work done and see how she was doing. Thankfully there was no infection, it's just the chemo's effects.

Mama ended up getting an IV of fluids, and she has been feeling a little better, though she's weak and still can't eat much. Only a couple more of the intense chemo treatments, and then she can start on another type, which the doctor tells her is easier.

She doesn't like to talk about losing her hair, but I must say she looks rather fetching in those little terry cloth turbans. And the hair grows back, Mama. I swear.

On the writing front, I'm still doing the nip and tuck on the novel, as well as working on a couple of short stories, both oddly enough about zombies. I wonder when that obsession will wear off?

Writing about them does seem to stop those weird dreams I have when I'm extremely tired, though, so I guess I'll just go with it.

There are still a few hours left on the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale (see link in upper left sidebar). Downloads have been pretty gratifying, though I think I would do better if I had some novels out.

So, Gentle Readers, that's it for this month. Try not to let the posting frequency get your hopes up. snort Though who knows what next month may bring? Take care and summer on.

Updates on my mom and stuff...

So Mama had her first chemo treatment yesterday, and she's doing pretty good so far--no nausea or anything. I took her today to get a shot to help rebuild her white cell count, and we hit the local Goodwill (nothing exciting to report there, though).

I do need to get a picture of the huge Pyrex mix and pour bowl I got back in, I think, February. Those days are kind of lost to me because I was fighting that horrible upper respiratory infection, his cousin, the second upper respiratory infection, and their neighbor, the full-blown head cold. Arrggh!

Anyway, Mama and Sis1 wanted to go to the Doll Market in Greensboro, but they moved to another city a few miles up the road. Yay! Road trip!

After we stopped and looked at the cute dolls (there's another long story stuck in the middle of this--remind me to tell you that one later), and doll-related things, we decided to hit a couple of local thrift stores on the way home.

At one of these shops, I saw a familiar shape--the pouring spouts, the oh-so-70s brown color, which my ex-DH would have adored, as brown is his favorite color! And that's another long story, which I may or may not tell you someday.

So I dig this tremendously large bowl out from under some dented metal baking stuff, and checked it over. Perfect shape, but no price. Well, that's not usually good, but I ambled over to the cashier and asked. What's the worst that could happen, right?

I stayed very calm when he looked at the bowl and said $3. Three dollars! Are you kidding me? Deep breath. Deep breath. All I said was okay, that sounds good, and went to look around the rest of the store. It doesn't pay to let your excitement show. Besides, I save all that for you guys. wink wink nudge nudge

We ended up buying some cute baby clothes (for our dolls, there's no babies coming along in our family any time soon), and we all left happy. Well, I was very happy, but I'm just weird that way. Ooohh, Pyrex. Drool.

I need some batteries for my camera, but as soon as I can I'll get some photos up, especially one that shows how big this bad girl is. 'Cause I know y'all are just dying to see my latest Pyrex fix. snort!

Now that I've bored everyone to death with my thrift store escapades, let's talk about the BOOK! I'm still editing, but making good progress. I'm going chapter by chapter now, filling in details, taking out details, smoothing scene transitions, and figuring how the chapters look.

With any luck, it will be ready to publish by the end of the month. Although I should say, it will be published by then, because I have an editing job that has to be done by July, so I've got to get going.

And on that note, I will leave you Gentle Readers. Take care, and remember:  Summer's coming!