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Happy Tewe’s Day, everyone. Hope you all had great weekends. Mine was busy, busy, busy, but a bit more upbeat than the last few have been. My computer is still working, though there’s a problem with the co-ax cable which causes us to lose WiFi if it gets bumped even slightly. We’ll replace with new cable the next time it goes out. For now, I’m back in business. And therein lies the rub. (Some famous guy once said that in a play, you know. 😀 )
The said “rub” mentioned above: I’ve been told by several people including friends (you know who you are), family, and even my family doctor that it’s possible … just possible, mind you … I’m trying to do too many things at one time. Huh. I never knew that would become a problem. Guess I figured I could handle as much stuff when closing in on 80 as I’ve been handling all my life. Apparently that was a Fool’s Dream. (Who knew?) Consequently, I’m busy trying to work out a schedule that lets me do as much as I can manage without pushing myself over the metaphorical cliff.
With that in mind, some things will have to go. Others I’ll mostly just need to cut back on the frequency of. (My beloved Wildlife talks may have to be cut to one a month, instead of two, for instance. Twenty-four a year is becoming problematic, so we’ll see if twelve works better.) But rest assured, I’m NOT giving up entirely on anything I either love to do, or need to do, especially my current WIP! It’s right at the top of my list, and Rabbit is getting antsy, since he’s full of things he wants me to write down for him. 😊
Our weekend home and garden projects are still a “need to” situation for now, but once most of them are completed, those can be cut WAY back. I do need to do at least a bare minimum of typical household chores fairly often, too, darn it.( Laundry will not wash itself, no matter how nicely I ask! 🙄 )
But saddest of all, I may have to cut back on the frequency of some of my blog posts (and even temporarily, some of my blog visits). To help prevent too much of that nonsense, however, I’m going to go ahead and schedule most of my regular “series” posts (#GrannySays, #ThorsDaySmile, etc) through the end of the year, though #MondayMeme is on a break for now. This will give me time each week to handle the guest posts I still intend to run any time I have folks who’d like to visit. (I do have openings for both #TenThings & GuestDayTuesdays, and will post a list of those dates later.) And on weeks when I find extra time available, I may throw in some bonus posts of my own on various topics, just for fun. No promises on those, though, as I’m going to behave exactly as I’ve been advised to!
Last of all, this is idea is already starting to work. I’m in a much better frame of mind today than I’ve been in for several weeks. Having a plan in place always helps me relax, and even if I’m still working on the implementation of it, I know I’m on the right track.
Thanks to all of you for your understanding and patience, and especially to those of you who’ve been extra supportive of me lately as I’ve stumbled around trying to make all the things I want to do work as easily as they used to. That’s not likely to be possible any longer, but that doesn’t mean I have to give up on everything I love! Not at all! I just have to be prudent and use some common sense. I can do that, no matter what anyone thinks. I can! Honest. No, really … I mean it! 😂😂😂 I’ll just pay more attention to the things Granny Says! 😉
Thanks for Sticking With Me Through This LONG Post!
Just want to say a quick thank you to all who offered support and commiseration yesterday. I was really freaked out, as you may have surmised. I’ve done all the things suggested, including a few I already knew, and the good news is that (SO FAR) my computer is running fine today. John, Windows Defender told me there were no problems at all and that my system was good to go. I’ve saved the instructions, though, just in case it goes off the rails again.
The bad news (you knew there had to be some, right?) is that I still have a program to give Saturday, and a whole lotta people have reserved seats. But, more bad news, I’m only 2/3 done with the slideshow. URK. That means I will be MIA from the blogging world in general until I finish this presentation. Hopefully, it won’t extend beyond today, but it has to be done, even if it spills over into tomorrow. I will take a break later this afternoon to “Like” and Tweet where I can, but that’s about all I’ll be able to do until this project is ready for Prime Time.
The other good news, is this is the last new program I have to create for this year! I’m not doing any talks in December, and hopefully that will give me time to get a few more new ones ready before the new year arrives.
Thanks for your understanding and your help, and hope to be back by tomorrow. (So I guess that means I better get ON IT right now!! I think I hear a crested caracara calling me!) See you soon!
Okay, okay. I know I look NOTHING like Gene Wilder, but he’s a personal favorite of mine and I couldn’t resist his saucy expression! 😀 Besides, the message works! I am officially back from my adventure in the Land of Breakthrough COVID. (Not an adventure I’d wish on anybody else, and boy am I grateful every day that we’d gotten both of our shots before this hit us.) I’m also grateful to have come through it all not too much the worse for wear. Still low energy, so I try not to push too hard, but mostly all symptoms are gone, even those dreadful narcoleptic-like fatigue episodes.
The important thing is, I survived, and I feel well enough to tackle getting most of my regular blog features back up and running once more, though it’s possible, I may need to step back now and then if I find I’m getting overwhelmed. Hopefully that won’t happen, or at least, not often. With that in mind, here’s what you can look for coming up on The Write Stuff, usually on a bi-weekly basis:
I have the weeks set up so that Monday, Wednesday, & Friday posts run one week, and Tuesday and Thursday posts, the next week. That gives me a couple of empty days each week for miscellaneous posts that I want to share and some extra guest posts now and then. Weekends are also open for whatever comes along, and a couple of times a year, I’m planning to run #ExcerptWeek, wherein you’ll be invited to share an excerpt from one of your books as one more way to promote them.
I have the #TenThings Wednesday spots filled every other week up to December, but if you’d like to be scheduled after Wed, Nov 24, just email me, and I’ll get you set up.
#GuestDayTuesday, where you can post anything you want about your books and writing (from promos to new releases to cover reveals, and more), is wide open, starting now. Tuesday, Oct 12 is the only Tuesday I have already scheduled at this point, so feel free to contact me if you’d like to take part. (Otherwise, you might be seeing a lot of ME as my own guest. 😁 )
And I think that pretty much covers what’s coming up, but if you have any questions, all of the instructions and lists of what I’d need for you to send me are listed above (right beneath the blog header) under “General Blog Rules and Various Feature Instructions.” If you can’t find the information you’re looking for there, feel free to email me, and I’ll help as best I can.
Thanks so much to each of you for your support, healing wishes and prayers, and patience as I dealt with this situation. I am truly looking forward to catching up with all of my favorite blogs once again. And I can’t begin to tell you how much our writing and blogging community has meant to me during the eight-plus weeks I was quarantined! Probably would have lost my mind without the online friendships I’ve made.
All that being said,
IT’S GREAT TO BE BACK!
Yep, in spite of the fact that I’ve not left my house in over 8 weeks, nor seen the face of a single friend, nor been able to do much writing thanks to COVID-Brain, I am definitely feeling lucky. I’m still HERE! As of today, at least, I still get another chance to do it all better! And that, my friends, is a daily miracle we often forget, and honestly, one I’m surprised to find myself enjoying: the miracle of life in all its guises. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. WOOOO and also HOOOO!!
To bring you up to date, I am no longer having any symptoms of this dreaded, miserably wretched, murderous virus we’re all sick of hearing about. I do have a greatly reduced energy level, but I’ve even seen some improvement in that area, too. I know the fatigue-related stuff can go on for an extended period, but I’ve learned how to go on, myself, right alongside it. In other words, it might slow me down, but it’s not going to stop me.
I do plan to return to blogging (and visiting the blogs of my friends) by October 1. I’m giving myself the rest of this month without any firm commitments as to the blog or my current WIP, just keeping the posting and writing flexible and simple for now. But come October 1, I want to get back to my regularly scheduled programming, as they say.
I will be putting out a call for those who’d like to take part in #GuestDayTuesdays to share promotions, new releases, and various other topics. I’ll be continuing with my new #GrannySays series, and will start back sharing weekly roundup posts from Story Empire and Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord. I’m not going to continue with #FirstLineFriday for now, though that might return in the future. But I do want to run some special “events” now and then, such as #ExcerptWeek, and a few new things I’m going to fit in here and there.
I’m very much looking forward to resuming these features and adding some new ones, and to finishing my current WIP, Riverbend #4, Working title A Need to Burn, and just may share some excerpts from that, along the way.
And finally, I’d like to thank all of you for your support and encouragement over the last weeks. Our blogging and writing community is the absolute BEST, and I appreciate each and every one of you!
Stay tuned, my friends, and remember, “Life Finds a Way.” (Recognize that? Hmmm. Maybe a new series for this blog: “Who Said It?” That could be fun!)
Now go forth and live YOUR life! And be sure to stay Safe and Well! (It’s much more enjoyable that way.)
And with that thought in mind, I’m going to keep on smiling and reminding myself that I could be hospitalized with severe COVID symptoms, instead of the daily mild flu-type stuff going on. Yeah, I’m too tired to do very much, and feel a bit crummy overall. (I mean, even mild COVID is unpleasant and exhausting.) But, I’m still here. And I will get past this! So yep. I’m going to CHOOSE to be happy! It’s that simple.
STAY WELL, FOLKS!
In celebration of my husband’s remarkable complete recovery from COVID-19, I have made an executive decision! (Alert the Media!) The best way I can think of to share our good fortune with others is to have a BIG SALE, so for at least a week (possibly a bit longer), my entire Wake-Robin Ridge series will be on sale for $.99 per book! Yep. You read correctly. That’s a savings of $2 on Book 1, and $4 on each of Books 2, 3, and 4. (Blame it on Covid Fog, as I’m not over it yet, but even so, I have enough brain power to know how lucky we’ve been so far.)
If you’ve been at all curious about this mildly paranormal series set in the breathtaking splendor of the Blue Ridge Mountains, now is the time to grab some books. Maybe you’ve even wondered who this little boy named Rabbit is and why a ten-year-old mountain boy raised in the wilderness would garner the lion’s share of attention from my readers. If so, you now have a chance to learn more about him (and his extraordinary abilities) for a ridiculously low price.
If you (like me) are stuck at home quarantining, or just trying to avoid being in many public places right now, reading is a great way to escape for a while. (Reading and writing are recommended by the Alzheimer’s Association as the best ways to stave off loss of brain function, too. TV isn’t even in the top ten! Just sayin’ … )
Hope you’ll consider joining my official Kick COVID in the BACKSIDE celebration by taking advantage of the first ever Complete Series Sale on these books.
(Mark Kicking the Crap Outta This Stinkin’ Virus)
In the meantime, PLEASE feel free to join the singing, dancing, and general HOOPLA of the celebration going on at the Meara household. (One of us is Hoopla-ing a bit more energetically than the other, but I’m giving it the best I’ve got right now.)
Download Wake-Robin Ridge #1 HERE
Download A Boy Named Rabbit HERE
Download Harbinger HERE
Download The Light HERE
I hate to say it, but it would seem I spoke a bit too soon in my last update. While Mark seems to be completely over this wretched virus, it appears I am not. My original symptoms disappeared, as reported, and I was left with some pretty severe fatigue for a few days, but it looks like the whole thing has circled back around. I’m now experiencing the same symptoms I developed six days after Mark’s positive test, only a wee bit more so.
Don’t get me wrong. So far, it is NOTHING worse than mild flu-like symptoms, and I have no reason to think that that’s going to change, thanks to the vaccine.
But I’m definitely not quite done with this yet. Yesterday it was sniffles and headaches along with the persistent fatigue. Today, it’s a sore throat. (I’ve had worse cases of both of these things with bad colds.) I suspect the reason Mark kicked his sooner than I’ve managed is two-fold. One is because he’s six-years younger than I and has no other health issues going on, and two is because he got the antibody infusion. In addition to helping keep symptoms mild, that treatment can significantly shorten the duration.
Bottom line is, while I don’t expect to get any symptoms more dire than what I’m experiencing right now, it’s obviously going to take me a bit longer to fully recover. But FULL RECOVERY is what I’m expecting, and I will settle for nothing less! “So there!” to this CRUMMY COVID CRAP!! (Tacky language apology.)
With that full recovery in mind, I’m still going to listen to my body and REST, REST, REST, as needed. I will not likely be very active on the blog (or anywhere else) for a couple more weeks, though I do have a few things (like the #TenThings posts every other Wednesday) already scheduled for you. I will “Like” comments so you know I’m still alive and kicking here, but will probably limit my own comments, unless I’m feeling a lot perkier.
But be prepared! When I do return, it will be with a lot of hoopla and a celebratory book sale. Or two. 😃 And jokes, and smiley faces, and every happy meme I can find!
Good News for the most part! Mark’s first week back at work went well, though his energy level is lower than usual, and all of my symptoms are long gone, except for recurring bouts of fatigue, which are getting farther apart and lasting a shorter duration. So, we BOTH seem to be out of the woods, and between the vaccine and having actually had COVID, we now have double protection against future illness. Or so they say. (If you pick up on a wee bit of skepticism there, it’s only because what “they say” seems to change pretty much daily.) But, I do feel incredibly lucky and like we dodged the bullet for the most part, since we’ve both had bad colds that were worse than this turned out to be, thanks to the vaccines.
I’m hoping to gradually return to a more normal blogging routine by next week, as I don’t want to push myself when I’m still having spells where I have to go lie down for a bit. But never fear. I have some posts already scheduled, including a #GuestDayTuesday post this week and a #TenThings post next Wednesday. I’ll probably have a #ThorsDaySmile post this week, too, as I think we need all the smiles we can get.
And when I’m “officially back” again, I’ll catch you up on the links to #StoryEmpire and #Smorgasbord posts as well, in case there are any you missed. In the meantime, please stay safe, everybody, and if you’ve been hesitant about getting the vaccine, I heartily recommend you go for it. I’m pretty sure it saved my life.
That’s all for now, but I’ll be back before you know it.
Just HAD to take a moment to let you know that Mark is cleared to return to work tomorrow. Yep! He has prevailed! Retest was negative, so there’s ONE down, and one to go.
As for me, my symptoms are almost totally gone, so I think I’m probably going to prevail, too, though I won’t know for sure until I get tested. I’m waiting the required 10 days quarantine, then will test to be SURE it’s safe for me to get back to giving my wildlife talks. But I’m feeling 99.9% sure I’m going to be okay, too, thanks to having gotten both shots weeks ago. As someone with three strikes against them health-wise, in addition to my age, I have no doubt that without the vaccine, I’d probably have ended up in the hospital, and likely intubated. If you are hesitant about being vaccinated, I hope you’ll give it more consideration now. It can and does save lives, even if it’s not perfect, yet.
I’m still resting, taking it easy, AND isolating/quarantining here at home, but I feel more and more optimistic every day that I’ll come through this just like Mark has!
Thanks again for all your well wishes, prayers, love, and support! You guys ROCK!
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