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Crazy week.
Thursday, Sensei and I spent the morning doing knife disarm experiments. Meaning, one person with training knife, other person not getting stabbed, then taking it away from them. With and without extreme violence, because if you come at me with a lethal weapon, you’ve nominated yourself for a morgue slab.
Also, working timing counts, counting backwards from three. Meaning: Block, Clear, Lock, with additional strikes thrown in. There are also counts of Two, One, Zero, and Negative One, depending on the situation and the circumstances. Ya gotta come to class to learn those, though, as they are Brown Belt-level things we don’t talk about with the White or Green Belts.
That was Thursday. Not a lot of writing.
Friday, got up and got gone kinda early, driving out to Spokane. Roughly 4.5 hours with a gas break and a few potty breaks along the way. Got checked in, settled, then had dinner with two of the step-daughters, one in town from Florida visiting her sister.
Not a lot of writing.
Saturday, I was with the Fabulous Publisher Babe™ at a live sales event at Page 42 Books (northeast of downtown at Foothill and Crestline. Nice place, but nothing I could find to buy. And a I looked.)
The store is small. What they have is a lot behind the building that is covered with gravel and they had 24 vendors set up. Mostly selling books, but a few with crafts and one craft soda lady.
We did not go in with high expectations. After all, northeast Spokane in a weird neighborhood. Small shop. Whatever.
Turned out to possibly be her best ever one-day event so far. Folks came to buy books. Brought bags with them. Even bought my books. She usually has a few of mine with her lot, mostly to represent range.
That’s the secret. Most authors only write in one, narrow sub-genre. If a potential buyer isn’t into that one thing, they keep walking without even making eye contact. I ask, “What do you read?”
“ A little of everything,” is the usual response.
“I got a little of everything here,” and point.
Her usual set-up is Cozy Fantasy, Cozy Paranormal Mystery, Urban Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling, and Quirky SF, to which she adds my Space Opera and Action-Thriller and suddenly I have called their bluff.
Better, I sold to several people on the strength of “Killing Nazis” with both Red Branch and Air Pirates of Cyrenaica. In Spokane, WA, which is among the most conservative areas in the state. (Gonzaga University was about ten blocks away, and while they turn out TOP NOTCH scholars, those same kids tend to be fairly right wing. Or did, when that had different meanings to INTENSE Jesuits. You will get an amazing education from Jesuits. If you survive it.)
Event ran Noon until Five. Tore things down quickly and IMMEDIATELY turned around and drove back to Seattle. Got home around 1030, stopping for a quick burger and a Coke so I had enough caffeine to get home because I drove that whole stretch while she recovered from her day.
Not a lot of writing.
Sunday, she got up and went to the Fairgrounds to be a judge at a Pacific Northwest Barbecue cooking competition. I stayed home and househusbanded. Laundry. Dishes. Cleaning. Unload her truck because she took my car instead.
Got some writing done, but not as much as I would have liked. Still recovering from a breezy and dry day outside and being extremely dehydrated.
Monday, changed my schedule. Not sure what the permanent structure is, but stayed in and wrote instead of breakfast and coffee in town. Still met the boys for game and had a usual afternoon, but changing things up permanently.
If you ever draw a hard line in the sand with me, expect me to fill it with silver and carve runes into it. Just saying.
Now it’s Tuesday, and drizzly. That’s good. I’m about halfway through Harri 4. And greatly expanding my world-building for this universe, such that I might have to explore a whole bunch more books. These are all novellas around 24k, so fast to write, fast to read, and capable of covering a lot of ground, because there is no time for sidequests. If anything, every book is its own sidequest in Harri’s bigger adventures.
Look for them starting in April.
shade and sweet water,
b
West of the Mountains, WA
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