The long boring days of summer are nearing an end. At Kroger, the Halloween candy has already replaced the school supplies. Fall is coming; maybe my second favorite time of year. It is still hot as Hades outside, but mornings and evenings are slightly cooler. I’m preparing for a busy planting season, both here and at the nursery. I’ve managed to keep alive all the plants I bought over the summer so they can be planted as soon as we get a break in the weather. Hardy annuals have been sown. I was worried when the first sowing didn’t germinate as well as I’d hoped. I did another sowing right before leaving on vacation and came home to lots of sprouts. I’ll have a good crop of snapdragons, foxgloves, and pincushion flowers to plant this year.  

I received the proofread manuscript from my publisher a few weeks ago. I took my time reviewing and tweaking it with the help of a couple of extra proofreaders. I sent it back last week. I’m anxiously awaiting my first glimpse of cover art; no word yet on when that will be. I don’t know what the next step is in this process, but I’ve decided to do the super uncomfortable thing and start promoting my book on social media. Y’all, talking to a camera is hard. Fortunately, I have a personal publicist in my daughter Reagan. The TikTok-savvy 21-year-old is helping this (almost) 48-year-old dinosaur navigate and use the platform. For those as ignorant as myself, I’ve learned there’s this subgroup called BookTok. People can talk about the books they love, and authors can promote their books. For the lucky few authors, their books are talked about by the right people and they amass a huge following of others interested in reading their books. I figure I’ve got nothing to lose by putting myself out there. You can find me on TikTok here. I’ve made three videos so far, giving little teasers about the stories in my book. Those can be found here, here, and here. Can I ask a huge favor? Could you share my book-related videos with your friends? Thanks! If I become a viral sensation, I’ll be sure to let you know. 

Mexico was just as relaxing as we needed it to be. We did a whole lotta nothing, and it was wonderful. We got in just a little bit of beach time before the red tide rolled in. This overgrowth of algae makes the usual crystal clear water turn a muddy brown. This can affect all aquatic wildlife, stealing their oxygen until their dead bodies wash up on the shore. Fortunately, it didn’t get this bad where we were, but the water was beginning to get a little stinky when we left. There were only a couple of very short power outages, and the condo owners in our building had pooled our resources a few months ago to get a generator big enough to power the whole building (PRAISE JESUS!!). We’ve also upgraded the WiFi and hot water situation (there was one tank for the whole building; we’ve now installed a tankless system). The annoyances that plagued my stay last winter shouldn’t be as much of an issue this winter. I’m already counting down the days (118) until Winter Sabbatical 2023. 

I’m in a better place mentally than I was a couple of months ago. God willing, I will be able to maintain this through the fall.