Whew. My latest draft (a nearly complete re-write) of the current project is done and off to a few generous readers. Slightly shorter and sooner than expected, but I am happy about it. I’ve been actively writing this book since January, drafting, and then re-drafting as I try to get closer to the heart of the characters and their connection to each other. I feel like this time I’ve gotten close to what I am aiming for. I know it will never be the perfect book in my mind, but I keep trying!

So I’m on a hiatus from that project for the next few weeks while I wait for feedback. It’s an awkward, at-loose-ends feeling that I bet a number of you out there recognize. You pour so much of yourself into one thing, and then you have to walk away, knowing there’s still more to do. But you also need the time away, to see it clearly.

In the meantime my head is a jumbly, rattling sort of place, filling up with tidbits of blogs I’ve been catching up on, images that might be part of brand new projects, and Circus Galacticus stuff I need to work on now that the release date is less than three months away (eep!).

Here’s a miscellany of such tidbits:

My current desktop wallpaper, to inspire me for CIRCUS stuff, like writing the character bios to go with the character art I’m going to put up in a month or so!

I love this! Una the Blade, Barbarian warrior and mother of two. Found via The Mary Sue.

I’ve really been enjoying the series of posts on storytelling at The Cockeyed Caravan (also known as Matt Bird, husband of famed librarian and kidlit blogger Betsy Bird) and now there’s a fabulous checklist that puts it all in one place. Highly recommended!

The famine in East Africa continues to horrify me, and though they are highly distressing to view, this series of photos in the Atlantic is an unflinching and moving account of the suffering. Please consider donating to one of the causes offering relief to the area.

And one business-keeping note: my website is on a new host now, which should fix the slowness issues that were cropping up last month (so if you couldn’t get to the Circus Galacticus excerpt before, try again now!). During the move, I decided to get rid of my domain email address, since I never quite trusted it. I’ve updated everywhere I can find that listed it to just use my gmail address (listed on the Contacts page for my website). Please use that if you want to email me!