Port A

Hi, guys...

I'm writing this at nine-thirty at night on the sidewalk outside a circa-1980s condo in Port Aransas.

I can't e-mail out from here (even though I am getting them)... but I'm just fine. Thanks for checking, Laura!

The sea wind is at my back, my children are upstairs with someone other than me, and somebody else's kids are playing in the pool behind me. And the sprinklers just went off and completely drenched my computer.... ack!

I'm A-OK, but will probably (as you have perhaps noticed) be posting sporadically over the next month or two. What little time I have seems to be going toward the next book (but there's not enough of it); and my page proofs for Howling -- all 368 pages of them -- just landed on my front doorstep last week. Ack!

I will, however, be back more frequently when things are less nutty...

How are your summers going?

Hugs to all, and thanks for bearing with me...

Karen

The update

So much to catch up on!

You've probably noticed that I've had much less time lately for blogging, and I apologize for that; summer vacation has officially started, and I'm racing to get Wolf 2 -- tentatively titled On the Prowl, now at 59K words with approx. 30 to go -- finished by the end of July.

Home-wise, Abby had her surgery, and she's just fine -- the path report on the mole excision came back negative and the margins are clear. (Giant whew -- I'm attributing it to all the wonderful thoughts you guys sent our way. Thank you so very much!) The tarantula I found two weeks ago in my tennis shoe is now named Hairy Terry and lives in a terrarium in my living room, right next to the fish. My house is being consumed by my children and my rabbit, and I despair of ever having an organized corner. BUT I did post on Cozy Chicks today (wow! two posts in one day!) about a rather opinionated person I met this afternoon at the library. And we're trying to put in a vegetable garden and lay about a billion very heavy pavers in the muddy part of the back yard. Because I don't have enough to do.

Oh -- and I have -- perhaps erroneously -- introduced my children to Monty Python, the result being that my son has many, many questions about blancmange and why it makes noises when it eats people. If you have good answers, please e-mail at your earliest convenience.

On the book front, a good bit of news: the first book of the Tales of an Urban Werewolf series, Howling at the Moon, is scheduled for release Jan. 29, which I discovered when I found it on Amazon the other day. (Which is also how I discovered that there are now large-print versions available of the Gray Whale Inn mysteries. Who knew?) According to my editor, the next two books are scheduled for release Summer and Fall 2008 respectively (gulp), and I need to write another GWI mystery in there, too. So far, my self-cloning efforts have not yet been successful. Again, all tips welcome.

I've missed you guys in all the rush. What are you up to? How are your summers? How's your writing? Inquiring minds want to know!

P.S. A reader e-mailed me recently asking me to post on my book outlining technique; I'll get to that very soon! If there's anything you want to know, just ask!

Austin Slacker (and a book release)

Yep, that's me. At least as far as the blogging's concerned. (Although I did post to Cozy Chicks on schedule last week, so that's something.)

I think everything was so busy for a couple of weeks that I wore myself out. So I took an unannounced break, got my head in order, and it seems to have worked; I've torn through 5,000 words on Wolf 2 since Monday, and hope to have the book done by the end of July so I can visit the Gray Whale Inn for a couple of months. Really looking forward to that... and please send your light recipes my way! (I'm putting Natalie on a diet. It's self-defense.)

Abby had her surgery last Friday, and we're waiting for the biopsy results (that weird mole had started to grow back, and I'm getting nervous again just typing this, so I think I'll think about other things now.)

Speaking of other things, Beads of Doubt, the book I finished for my dear late mentor Barbara Burnett Smith, came out yesterday, which means I should probably add "update web site" to the list of things to do today. I need an assistant, I think. Unfortunately, that's not likely to happen in the foreseeable future. :)

Melissa, I will cut and paste your comment today or tomorrow... hope all is well in your neck of the woods! How do you manage cleaning out garages in summer? Hot, hot, hot...

Will post as soon as I know anything on Abby... keep your fingers crossed, and hope all is well with you!

Okay, back to the werewolves...