What I've been doing

Hello readers!

I have not abandoned you.

Well, I sorta did.  A little.  For just a month or so.  But now I'm unabandoning you...  for a week or so...  it's complicated.

In case you have been wondering what has been happening to me (and whether or not I have found myself in the proverbial ditch on the side of the road), the simple answer is I've become Busy.  This is not the "I'm so busy," whine that everyone has in order to complain about everyday life.  I was too busy for that.

My wife and I are moving 800 miles away.  She is our primary breadwinner, and she is graduating soon.  Very soon.  She has been offered a wonderful job - her dream job, really.  So, at the end of this month, we are packing everything up and moving into a new home.

Buying a home kinda sucks, but it is worth it in the end.  I love our new home, don't get me wrong.  But there are so many minutiae that you have to deal with... inspectors, mortgages, insurance, real estate agents, more insurance, sellers, changing addresses, credit, even more insurance, finding a new church, finding things to do with the kid(s), movers, figuring out the actual logistics of moving, handling moving out of your current home, shutting off/turning on all the utilities, saying goodbye to all your friends...  all that gets piled onto the fact that you still have responsibilities, goals, a family, jobs, and having to deal with the new job.  I still have to be a stay-at-home-dad AND finish writing my book, while my wife has to defend her PhD tomorrow morning. So, we have been understandable swamped.

On that news, yes, my wife defends tomorrow.  It is in some ways very nerve-wracking, but I am attempting to keep myself calm and available for her.  I now there is not much I can do that I'm not already doing.  I wish her the best of luck and am praying for a successful defense!

Also, last night I had a marathon writing session.  5 hours, 2,700 words.  I finished the rough draft of my novel!  And let me tell you, it feels GOOD!  I am already looking forward to the various edits.

For those of you who don't know, the next step is to go through the mandatory edits.  I will read it through again and edit things.  As I have been writing, I've kept careful notes of things I want to change, so those will also be implemented.  THAT will be the first draft.  From then on, I will be having other readers go through and edit it.  Once I am satisfied, I may try to find a professional editor.  Once the final edits have been made, I will learn how to put this novel up on the Nook, Apple Store, and Kindle.  And then you, dear readers, will hopefully buy it!

Before that however, I will be submitting an entry into a particular contest run by Jim Henson Studios.  They are looking for an author, and I would love to be that author.  Although my chances are slim, if I don't submit anything they are nil.

So where does all this leave you and this blog?  And my Friday Flash?  Well, I might be able to post again once or twice before the move.  I will try for a Friday Flash if possible.  Probably next week.  But after that, I am certain my hands will be full unpacking, taking care of Addy, finding things to do in the area, getting the internet turned on in our new home.... and then visiting England.  So this blog may be on a bit of a hiatus until, say, the end of the year at some point.  But I will return!  And I will keep writing!

Because a writer writes.