October Already?

How did that happen?  Weeks have flown by and I've been so busy it's hard to keep track of time.  I've been writing a lot and very different things.  The non-fiction book was finished, sent off for comments, and has just been returned for editing.  We're still believers in its concept, and have great hopes for it, but it looks like we'll need to do some more work.  Not to worry - we're bringing in additional troops to help us out.

I'm back to writing fiction again.  It's a new kind of book for me, a much shorter format, which is forcing me to pare down my usual complicated plots and character list to the essentials.  Kind of fun, when you get into the rhythm of it.  Then it's back to 13th century London, to Edward I's court.  The summer skies are darkening with unrest and I've got my characters in the midst of it all.  It's one of my favorite periods in which to write, so rich with potential.  Maybe by the time I'm writing I'm writing that one full time our warm California weather will have cooled and it won't seem strange to imagine a dark rainy night in a walled city.

We've been seeing lots of friends and family and doing a lot of celebrating, despite the seemingly endless influx of sad news.  I cannot remember a year so filled with deaths - so, so many deaths.  But we're not focusing on that.  We're enjoying every happy moment and are determined to end the year on a high note.  It may be a note played on a kazoo rather than a violin, but it will be music to my ears (don't cringe - it just had to be said).