For those of you familiar with Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, you will almost certainly recognize the above quote. It is something the character Granny Weatherwax has printed on a placard that she holds when she is out ‘borrowing’ (the art of overlaying her mind on the mind of another creature so that she can see through its eyes and steer its actions without it being aware of her presence).
I haven’t exactly been ‘borrowing’ myself, but I have definitely been watching. Specifically, watching the world struggle to deal with the current pandemic. Those are struggles I know we all share.
My absence can be attributed to a lot of things. At the beginning of this I was trying to figure out how to work from home. You see, I have always worked in an office, and I prefer it that way. I like to have a day that has a definite beginning and end (bookmarked by my commute to work) and I prefer to directly see people rather than virtually. In March we were instructed to work from home exclusively.
That took a lot of getting used to. Sure, I enjoy sleeping an extra hour a day and it’s nice not having to take transit for an hour in the morning and again at night. But my day just seems to go on and on with home and work blending together in a weird way.
For the first few months I rarely left the house at all; my wife works in extended care with seniors and I didn’t want to risk catching anything that I could pass onto her. It felt very much like I withdrew from the world – difficult for someone who is a social animal – and the effort to do more than simply exist was exhausting.
I was, however, still working on my books. I’ve spent the last few months working with my editor to polish up my novel, The Goddess Renewed. TGR is the first novel in an adult fantasy trilogy and is scheduled to release in October of this year, published by Champagne/Burst books. It tells the story of two young people, entangled in the struggles between their queen and a wayward duke all while an ancient entity schemes to regain her power.
I’ve also been working on readying the first novel in a new Middle Grade series. Titled: The Outkast Klub: Mystery at Silver Lake, it is my first mystery novel inspired by The Three Investigators and The Hardy Boys. I always loved those books growing up and wanted to create a series of my own. More about it in future posts (but I’m hoping it will be out in time for Christmas).
I also learned that Jack Kane and the Kaiser, the novel I co-wrote with JR Murdock, is now available in print format. Get your copy today (or order the eBook, if you prefer). 🙂
We all have a long winding road ahead of us but I hope each step we take is one forward. I’m back. Not dead and looking forward to connecting with you all.
Stay safe!
