The next Big Thing

Woke up this morning and it is cold outside! I don't mind changes in the weather, but they ought to come softly, a degree or two at a time.

But nature doesn't work that way any more than life does. Things happen with the suddenness of a lightning bolt. One minute we're whistling Dixie and the next we're flat on our backs.

So I'm not complaining about a little drop in the temperature. Right now things are fine and I hope they will stay that way for awhile. Maybe the next Big Thing will be good or maybe it will be not-so-good.

When we're young, things like illness or the death of a loved one come as surprises. They're not supposed to happen.

Then you reach an age where such events are not welcome, but expected. That doesn't mean they hit any easier, but we're cushioned in a way that our tender younger selves weren't.

When we're young we confidently expect to earn that promotion or win that three-book contract. When the Good Big Thing doesn't happen, we're as crushed as if it were a real catastrophe.

The advantage of maturity is we now know the difference between disappointment and tragedy. And, hopefully, we can endure either with grace.

So I keep on keeping on and living each day as it comes. I know this is a plateau and that sooner or later the next Big Thing will turn my world upside down yet another time.

I hope it's Good Big Thing. And I wish the the same for you.

Decisions, decisions

Here it is Tuesday again. I'm pleased to announce I have finished my sequel and it is now being read by my favorite proofreaders/editors.

I'd celebrate by going outside and lopping some trees in the back yard, but it's 95 degrees out there and I'm not insane enough to venture forth. I did make a quick trip to the library, but hey, that's an emergency, right?

So while I wait for feedback, my plan is to re-visit an earlier work, send out a query or two, or maybe clean my work space, which has become a giant, teetering, pile of  papers, notebooks, files, and miscellany.

Or I could look for some promotional sites that aren't the kind that only other authors post on, hoping desperately to be noticed and re-posted or re-Tweeted.

Or (and this is more likely) I'll grab my iPad and click on Acorn, which I joined for a free month last night in order to watch Louise Penney's "Still Life," the first in her Three Pines mystery series.

And watch a movie.

Yeah, that sounds like a plan for a lazy, hot Tuesday afternoon
.