My apologies for the radio silence, but it's been a busy week or two over here - for good, bad, and otherwise.

When I last left you, I was on my way to a hair appointment, and then off to Illinois for a few days ... where I participated in the Anderson's Bookshop Young Adult Literature Conference. The event was marvelous - chock full of outstanding librarians, book-buyers, teachers, and other assorted reading enthusiasts; and it was made all the smoother and grander for the help of a couple of truly outstanding Scholastic publicists. All hail that team over there, for those people are doing God's work.

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I finally arrived home Sunday night - or rather, around 1:30 a.m. on Monday. I've been playing catch-up ever since, trying to get all the laundry and unpacking done, and answer all the skipped emails, and go to the grocery store, and to pick up a prescription or two. Among other things.

I'm still trying to find my place in the Drawing Fire manuscript - working up some of the comic/illustrated sections, and getting back into the swing of things; so I have no further word metrics to report at this time. I mean, I've added a few hundred words to the net total, but it's mostly been editing/logistical stuff for the last couple of days.

And it's not like I got any work done at the convention. Oh, I'd planned to, but such is life. And such is a schedule that came with a six-page (single-space typed) itinerary of travel and panels. So...yeah.

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Monday afternoon, we were freaked out when our friend Vanessa showed up at our back gate - holding our frequent canine guest, The Cooj. She'd had him out for a walk, when he collapsed. After a few minutes of cuddles and treats he rallied a bit, and by the time Vanessa's husband arrived to collect them, we thought maybe he was okay. He was up and around, and peeing on things, so, you know. Normal dog stuff. But it turned out, he had a cancerous tumor inside his heart. This morning, he went to sleep and stayed that way.

He wasn't our dog, but we loved him dearly, and always enjoyed having him as a guest when his people were out of town. He'd been dealt a bad hand, bless his heart, but I won't bore you with the sob story. After all, it ended quite well. Despite a tough start, and the bone cancer that took his leg ... Cooj was a happy, well-adjusted, much-beloved fellow, who made it past his tenth birthday. He was very lucky to have Vanessa and Jimmy, who always went the extra mile to give him the most love and the best care possible.

He was a very good dog. We will miss him.



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In other critter news, the ElderCat and TinyCat have started to play. This is worth noting, because it's literally the first time I've ever seen the ElderCat "frolic" with another feline. She's never really liked them, and thus far, she's been strictly tolerant of the baby ... but lately we'll find them playing a friendly game of chase or tag, and sometimes it stays friendly. Sometimes it doesn't, but it never gets any worse than a hissy-fit and a hasty retreat.



Of course, I've been calling Quinn the "tinycat" but she's getting bigger by the day. She's nearly as tall as Spain, though she only weighs a little over four pounds. (She's shaping up to be a long, lanky beast.)

Later this month - on the 26th - she goes back to the vet to get spayed. It's good and important and the right thing to do, but I'm still not looking forward to leaving her overnight. She's really become my little buddy.

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Greyson continues to do well. He's a little fat and completely lazy, and prone to digging holes in the yard - but we love him to pieces. Even though he totally denies that bit about hole-digging. How dare we. There's no proof whatsoever that he's been snorfling around in the mud. Good day, sir. I SAID GOOD DAY.



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Well, that's just about all I've got for now. I need to get back to work - on either Drawing Fire or some of the housework that piled up in my absence. There's more pet-hair on the floor than on the pets. My bathroom is a horror show. The kitchen is unseemly, and you could write your name in the bookshelf dust. I've got my work cut out for me.

But in closing, here's a shot of my office, where someone apparently set off a sleep bomb.



Have a good rest-of-your-week, everyone.
Thanks for reading.