What's been up since last I blogged? In a word? Stress!
The last month or so has probably been fairly tumultuous. So much going on. Probably the biggest thing is that my wife and I are getting close to buying our first home and moving to upstate NY. We're super excited (in no small part because this means moving from a crappy apartment in Queens to a house with a wood burning fireplace and enough room where we can finally get a dog!) but like anyone who's bought a house before knows, the process is one of the more stressful you'll go through. Who knew one person could fill out so many forms? Or that so many different people could want money from us. Or that the subway does not go to upstate New York. People drive cars there! Crazy, but true.
On top of that I'm working on the final pre-ARC edits to my next book. (nope, still can't tell you the title or anything about it. Errrg.) One of the things I learned last go round was the huge importance of the ARC. For those who don't know, the ARC is the advance copy that goes out to bloggers, reviewers and other influential folk about 6 months or so before the book is formally released. So you can imagine getting the book ready for this stage is incredibly important. I know I made a few changes to The Eleventh Plague after the ARC went out that I really wish I had made before. Don't want that to happen again.
Oh and I'm also in talks about what happens next bookwise after this fall's release!
Whew! My heart is beating a little faster just writing all of that! I will admit that I do have a bit of a tendency towards anxiety and am doing my best to keep myself calm in the midst of all of this.
So my question to all of you is…how do you keep an even keel when there's so much going on? Any good relaxation suggestions?
