First off -- there's been a huge upset in the business. Our very first employee, who'd worked for us for seventeen(!) years, gave notice a few weeks ago, and this past Friday was his last day.
It's a mixed blessing, to be sure, but ultimately, our business is going to be the better for it.
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Also this past weekend (Fri-Sun), I was on a mini-writer's retreat with my writer besties. It was wonderful to get away (a couple hours east from home) and hang out with my friends and get some work done on the revamp of my first series. I've talked about that here.
Books 1 - 3 are all in progress, Book One needing the most work. But I reached a point with that book that I needed more time / space (well, lack of distractions) that I'd saved the focused work for this retreat and moved on to the other books in turn. Not that I've finished either of them either.
Unfortunately, Book One needed more work than I remembered and I had a hard time really getting in the work zone to do the detailed edits that need to be done. But I did read through it yet again, making minor tweaks and refreshing my memory on the scope of work. So now I can plan some time blocks to work on it.
Book Two and Book Three are, tbh, I don't even know right know. Closer to being done than Book One, so those can be worked on whenever.
As for the new covers I've commissioned, those are coming along too. The original covers are very soft and muted. The new ones are gonna be brighter and a little more cookie cutter. It's been a challenge finding appropriate models, especially for Book Two. Ultimately, I decided not to stress about it too much. They're not really for me.
My goal is to be done revamping the first three books by the end of September and then dive into the second three books during the 4th quarter. I hope Books 4-6 won't need too much work. Then comes the challenge of new words for Book 7 which is one-third to one-half done.
But I'm chugging along with the overall project, so I'm not complaining.
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Anyone who's been around these here parts for any length of time will know I love podcasts. I've listened to various different ones, including history, but mostly I listen to hockey podcasts.
Puck Soup was my first hockey-based podcast and I loved it dearly. Yes, loved. These days, it's fine. I haven't listened to any of the new stuff since the Stars fell out of the playoffs. I couldn't bear any hockey talk because the Stars' defeat would have been a hot topic and my heart was too raw to hear the players and the play dissected.
I've basically unsubbed from everything podcast / hockey related -- except Puck Soup even though I could save myself $9 a month by doing so. I keep it solely because of one person...Greg Wyshinski, who doesn't even participate in the hockey eps anymore because of his work contract with ESPN.
Greg was one of the original hosts of Puck Soup along with Dave Lozo. Dave eventually left to purse other career opportunities, and I hope things have worked out for him.
But I have to confess that I have sorely missed his presence as well as the camaraderie and interplay between him and Greg.
So the reason I have not yet opted to save myself nine-dollars-and-change is because I have been listening to the very old/beginning/first episodes of Puck Soup with these two zany dudes.
They make me laugh out loud. And their hockey predictions with eight years of hindsight are also amusing.
Dave on the left, Greg on the right.
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Another thing I've gotten into is watching The Hoof GP on YouTube. Sonshine introduced me to the Hoof GP while he was here, and now I'm hooked.
The Hoof GP is a Scottish hoof trimmer who practices his trade in beautiful Southwest Scotland.
Watching him trim the hooves of (mostly) dairy cows is calming and also very interesting. His love and care for the animals is always evident and I now find myself feeling for these animals as well.
Two of his wife's brothers also work with him and it's enjoyable to watch the interplay between the three of them.
Anyway, it's worth checking out. :0)
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And that, my friends, is that for now. I hope you're all well.
I'll be back in two weeks' time.
Take care.
