I’d say “I’m still alive,” but that’s obvious since I posted briefly the other day. It’s still painful to sit for any length of time, and my mind doesn’t focus as well because of the pain, so I’ve got this really long e-mail that I started at the beginning of the week about my party and everything, but it’s taking me forever to finish it. So here’s a placeholder to briefly update my faithful readers on what’s been going on.

My chiropractor says the lower back problem has been solved, and I haven’t blown out a disc or anything awful like that. The problem is now my left hip, and some very painful adjustments have that moving again (he says). I spending a lot of time icing it and watching TV/movies, and trying not to sit for long periods of time. I also have to be better about listening to my body. I have a high pain threshold, and if something’s uncomfortable, I tend to think “Oh, I’ll just work for a few more minutes and then walk around.” No. Duh.

Anyway, my big goal in life right now is to actually sleep through the night…

Ken, meanwhile, came down with food poisoning (we’re pretty sure it’s the burrito he ate for lunch Sunday before heading to the airport), and had a miserable couple of days. He’s fine now, but because of the time off, he’s working 12-hour days and will be working through the weekend. Yargh.

I’m behind on writing, work, e-mail, Styx Star stuff, thank-you letters, and just about everything else. Apologies if you’re waiting for something from me. I promise to get to it just as soon as I can. Including a response to the answers to yesterday’s question. I’m still trying to form a response and follow-up questions, but right now it’s coming out all wrong, and I fear saying it wrong.

I did finish a short story, writing Sunday and Monday, and sent that out for a crit. It’s back but I haven’t had the energy to make the minor changes and get it sent. Tuesday I critiqued Teresa’s novel partial and did a little work on a collab story with her. Not much since then. I have a couple other stories that need to get in the mail, and a novel partial of my own to polish and send out. (The novel was written awhile ago and went through a Novel Workshop, but I never really made the edits. I sent out query letters, figuring if someone wanted to see a partial, it would light the fire under my butt to clean it up. Now there’s an editor who’s sent out a call for this type of book, so the fire has been lit.)

The publishing world works in slow-molasses speed, and it can be frustrating. I have two partials out with my Black Lace/Cheek editor, a collab with Teresa and a collab with Sarah. If he says yes to either or both of those, they’ll take priority. But while I’m waiting, I’m not sure what to do. I’d like to dive back into Angelika, but it’s the fits and starts that are slowing the book down. (And I’m targeting that for Black Lace, which means it’ll be a third book to the same editor.) I do have a number of short story deadlines, so I’ll probably focus on those for the rest of the month, unless a novel deal surfaces.

I worked my way through three seasons of Monarch of the Glen, and that’s all Netflix has, alas. Although, truth be told, as utterly charmed I am of this show, the last couple episodes I watched were a letdown. I know part of it is because of how British TV series are assembled, but still. There’s something of a weird reboot factor that kicks in to the show every so often.

Now I’m going to start working on The 10th Kingdom miniseries, and a couple of movies that Ken’s seen but I haven’t, and then maybe the Prime Suspect series. Or hey, maybe I’ll rewatch all of Northern Exposure…

I’m really starting to miss writing. I’m hoping tomorrow I’ll have enough focus to play with something.

Thankfully, walking is actually one of the few things I can do that’s good for me right now, so I’ve been doing a bit of that. To the drugstore or grocery store (about a mile each way), to the Post Office and library (probably a mile total), all while enjoying my new iPod (which I’m stuffing in my pocket for the time being, because I haven’t been able to drive to a store to try out armbands).

Oh, and before I forget: Happy Belated Eostre’s Day! Seven years ago, on a dark and rainy Easter night, our beautiful Eostre came into our lives, with the faith that we would care for her, her injury, and her kittens-to-come. With each passing day she’s grown more trusting and affectionate—the last two times we’ve had a group of people in the house, instead of sequestering herself upstairs, she’s hung out downstairs and enjoyed attention and scritchies.

That’s all for now (and it took me most of the day to finish this as it is). More, soon, I hope!