Good morning, Readers!

This all happened really rather suddenly.  I got notification on Monday that the whole lot was ready to publish and was being sent off to the printers.  Renaissance was hoping to have them published in time for CanCon.

Alas, that was not to be... completely.  I'll explain.

The official release date for Skylark is 16 October of this year.  You can reserve your copy today, though.  I hope you do.  I'm stupid proud of this one, and I really think you'll like it.

And that's not all, either.

Renaissance managed to get 20 copies that will be available at CanCon.  They will be signed by me.  That's right, there will be 20 signed copies of Skylark available to buy before even the pre-order folks get at them.  As if CanCon could get any better!

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

But yeah, there will be copies available at CanCon.

CanCon, incidentally is a brilliant time, so be sure to register.

Right, that's all the announcing I have for you today.  I'm off to do things... like freak out.  I cannot WAIT to see Skylark in print.   EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I am exhausted today.  I worked really hard yesterday.  First, I made good on my promise to myself to keep up with my weight training, even though we can't really get together with the crew to do it before training any more.  Martial arts training on Tuesdays start at 7:30, so I had a good two and a half hours to kill between work and training.  That's plenty of time to get a workout in, so I headed to the gym yesterday to train.

To be honest, I'm proud of myself for that.  I'm kinda regretting it now, though.  I really am tired.

It didn't help that the cats were especially cuddly this morning, and not at all annoying, permitting me to oversleep.  Normally the bother me no end in the quest for breakfast.

This is all just a long-winded way for me to whinge about being utterly exhausted this morning.

In other news, I'm supposed to be live streaming tonight.  There is a risk of thunderstorms, though.  It might just be a few rumbles of thunder and some rain, in which case, we're all fine for streaming.  But it also might be another nightmare like Friday's storm.  In which case, we're not okay.

If you don't see me online, it's because of the storm, and we may have lost power.  I'm not expecting that to be the case, though.

Knock on wood.

Right, I have work to do.  This is aboring post.  Tomorrow's post will be better, I promise.  For now, I have to go.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

There is absolutely no news.

Pst.

Nope.  Nothing at all.

Hey!

Absolutely nothing.

Newsletter subscribers.

Can't think of a single thing.

Yes, you!

I swear I had something when I started this blog post.

Check your inboxes.

Turns out, I have nothing at all.

For real.  Check.

Well, what a waste of a blog post.

You're welcome.

Good morning, Readers!

Friday, there was a terrible storm that hit my area.  Ordinarily, I love storms.  And I loved this one.  Right up until I found out that houses are gone, torn away by a tornado.

There were two funnels, actually.  One touched down in Gatineau, the other tore through the township of Dunrobin.  I was extremely fortunate.  No damage to the house that I could tell, and we only lost power for half a day.  It went out around 8:00pm Friday night, and returned almost exactly at midday Saturday.  We were really, really lucky.  There are people still without power as of this morning.

Some people are without homes entirely.

I'd like to take this opportunity to the hard-working folks at Hydro Ottawa, who have been working in the cold (it got very, very cold immediately after the storm, because everyone's heat was out, so naturally it did) for ridiculously long hours to get power back on.  Thank you so, so much.

Weirdly, despite being relatively close by, Carleton University did not lose power, so I headed there Saturday morning to teach as usual.  Glad to see that most of my students showed up and were well.  Following that, I headed over to my friends' place to celebrate my God daughters second birthday.  She is such a little person now, and so very sweet.  It was an absolute delight.  I watched Wreck-It Ralph for the first time.  It was adorable.

Sunday was spent cuddled in bed with the cats.  They were snuggling for warmth, because it was cold, but I didn't mind.  It was wonderful.  It's so nice to cuddle something warm and fluffy, and purring.

Right, I have things to do today.  I should do them while I've the time.

I hope you're all well and keeping safe and warm.

​Ciao!

Correction, courtesy of Lina via Facebook:
One tornado touched down in Dunrobin, and crossed the river into Gatineau. The second tornado touched down in Arlington Woods and ripped through Craig Henry, all the way through Merivale (where the power transformer was destroyed).

Good morning, Readers!

With the beginning of martial arts training, I was also supposed to start up on my regular training schedule as well.  As in, hitting the gym before work, running three times a week, lifting the other three.

So... that didn't happen.  At all.

It probably won't happen until mid-October in any case, as I have other things I must spend money on other than the necessary bus pass.  I also resent needing a bus pass in order to go to the gym.  OC Transpo is terrible, and I hate having to rely on it.

In any case, those plans fell through, and I'm feeling like a bit of a failure right now.  That's alright.  It's not like I'm not exercising at all.  I'm still walking to and from work three days a week and swimming and stuff.  So there's that.  Still, it grates on me a little that I haven't been able to get to the gym.

This is in part because I'm trying really hard to loose weight, but do it healthily this time.  I've tried many times before, and none of those attempts were healthy.  It ruined my metabolism, and I got very sick for a very long time because of those efforts.  I did get a little slimmer, but certainly not healthier.

To that end, if you're struggling with your weight, or your someone who struggles with other people's weight, then you really need to read this article.  It's a little triggering, even to me, despite my privilege of being only a little tubby.  I can't imagine the trauma of people who are larger than I.  It breaks my heart.

Anyway, it's an important read for everyone, large or small.

Now I'm off to get work done.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Oh boy did I miss punching things.

Last night was the first night back at training.  We're in a new location.  It's weird being there, but I'm sure it'll setting into a new normal very soon.  I saw all the old crew; and I have missed them so much.  It was awesome to be back with them all, laughing and hitting, getting bruised and bruising others.... ahhhhh... life is good now.

Honestly, I adore my martial arts crew.  And I was genuinely so giddy to see them all again.

Today, I am tired.  I was supposed to get up early and go for a brief half-hour run this morning.  That didn't happen.  Instead, I stayed in bed, listening to the cat lose his goddamn mind doing wind sprints between my bed and the sewing room, while happily curled beneath the covers (it was cold enough last night for covers, another reason I'm feeling great today).

Oh well.  I'll try for Friday, depending on how my still-healing foot feels.  Persephone slept on it last night, and it's a bit achy today.  Maybe Monday.  It really does depend on my foot.  For the record, it did very well during training last night.

Tonight is another great night.  I'm streaming.  And I love the game I'm streaming.  I'm going to have to replay it.

Right, I have a lot of work to do today, so here's a great piece about what it's like to have your writing as your sole source of income by Chuck Wendig.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Ignoring the unironic title, I'm really happy today.  Today, sitting at my side, is my gym bag.  In it, my boxing gloves, and my king fu uniform.

That's right.

Tonight, I return to martial arts training.  We have found a place to train.  Now, it is very temporary solution.  I still really want to build a school so that we might have a permanent home, and not have to worry overmuch about losing space again.  Come on, lottery win!  Or... hey... selling film rights on any one of my books.

Ahem...

Hollywood, I know you're currently in love with remakes of literally fucking everything, but I have a few fresh stories for you.  Hey, with the success of Wonder Woman, maybe consider another female-centric film?  Daughters of Britain is pretty damned good... and it has sword fights!  C'mon.  You know you want to at least take a look.

Anyway, I'm really thrilled to be back at training.  It was pretty hairy there for a while.  I hope to see the whole crew there.

Now that we no longer have the backing of Algonquin, I've been put in charge of social media, in the hopes that we might be able to do our own marketing and attract new blood.  I'm not great at marketing (I mean... I can't even sell my own stuff), but I'm going to give it my best.  So, today, I'm setting aside the writing to set up the social media for the school.  Hopefully I can get it all done today, and hopefully it will help the school.

Right, I have a lot of work to do.

​Ciao!