In my inbox today (and yesterday. And a few times last week):
Every time I receive one of these spam emails and delete it, Michael gets terribly disappointed when the video of me ‘working on myself’ doesn’t get sent to him. And yes, he is listed in my contracts.
This particular bit of blackmail has been updated to actually fit current times, which is why I assume there has been a rash of them in the last couple of weeks. And the stilted tone is such an interesting mixture of threatening-while-attempting-to-be-friendly (and oddly supportive) that it makes for an intriguing character study.
“If you do something stupid, I will distribute the video.”
“Good luck.”
“Don’t stress.”
Brilliant.
There is a new character in the Archivist series – Doran, a vampire/antiquities dealer – who totally flirts in a similar fashion. Of course, he actually follows through with the threat when he doesn’t get ‘paid’. 🙂
After a few hours of working yesterday – managing my inboxes, social media, checking sales/rankings, etc – I was suddenly hit with this feeling of utter rawness, of overexposure. Nothing bad had happened (the complete opposite, in fact) but apparently I just exist close to that edge with the constant headache/state of the world, etc.
It was an acute enough overwhelm that I had to sit down on my pilates machine and just breathe. When that didn’t alleviate the feeling, I put on my runners, snagged Michael, and walked down to the mailbox. On our way back to the house, we discussed me taking a few days (mostly) off – writing if I felt like it, but letting my inbox, etc, slide – and then, come Monday, implementing a new schedule that prioritizes the writing of new words and limits my inbox/notifications running me quite so thoroughly.
So, of course, when I actually set my phone aside – physically across the room, and muted as always – Michael got stuck on the roof of the cabin addition.
Yep.
Hooked into his harness on the steep pitch of the garage. Can’t reach the ladder. Completely stuck.
He texted.
He called.
He yelled.
I was listening to an audiobook while knitting. ‘Unplugged’.
Michael had to flag down the neighbour to help him (Thank you, Jim!) even though I was hanging out less than the length of the house away. Ironically, I heard them talking, but not what was being said.
So … turning off notifications but keeping my phone nearby might help today’s ‘day off’ run a little smoother.
Oooo, look! A pretty green bestseller ribbon for Idols and Enemies (Amplifier 4) on Barnes and Noble. Thank you to all my Nook readers!! Amplifier 4 also ranked highly in the store and in its categories on Apple Books, Kobo, and Amazon (though Amazon calculates things a bit differently), and I am very very grateful to all my lovely readers without whom there would be no roof for Michael to get stuck on!
It’s Thanksgiving Monday. Michael is stripping the turkey so we can make stock. And, while I have his captive attention, I’m brainstorming book titles for the Amplifier Series* – I’m exceeding lucky to be married to a songwriter who excels in condensing complex ideas down into evocative but short phrases.
We’ve been having trouble with the titles for the new series for some reason. We’ve easily had four or five short brainstorming sessions, usually while making hot chocolate for coffee break. And I had previously titled five possible books during an earlier brainstorming session for the series as a whole (see picture below). Those titles reflected the romance side of the Amplifier series but didn’t bring any magic into the equation.
By the end of the day we hope to have a solid framework in place (a running motif, is you will). So I better crack open the thesaurus, an idiom dictionary, and get to work!
First page in my Amplifier notebook, and soon-to-be-crossed-out possible book titles.
*FYI. The Amplifier Series is set in the Adept Universe but features all new characters, including the Amplifier Emma and her dark sorcerer Aiden. The prequel, first short story, and the first book are due out in early 2019.
Michael: *peering into a small pale blue box* “What are these?”
Me: *glancing into the box on my way through the kitchen* “My salted caramels.”
Michael: “Oh.” He glances mournfully at the box he is holding – which used to be full of chocolates he’d selected for himself – then down into a drawer that is *literally* teeming with a crazy amount of chocolate and treats that we’ve just spent two days in Vancouver collecting.
Me: (feeling magnanimous, since there are two of the caramels) “You can have one if you like.”
Michael: “No. That’s all right.” He closes the box, puts it back, and picks up a crumpled plastic bag instead. “I’ll just eat the rest of my sour patch kids.”
Me: ???
Yes. Dozens of amazing treats to choose from and my husband wanders back out to his studio after lunch with his leftover movie night treats in hand.
I ate one of the salted caramels. It was freaking amazing.
Back to writing.
[I’ll run the random number generator(s) for the T-shirt giveaway(s) at the end of the day].
