A Disruption of Plans

The last three weeks mark the longest period of writing inactivity I've had since May. Earlier this month I got hit with a bad head cold. Now, before you shrug your shoulders and say, 'oh, it happens to everyone, you just get through it,' let me ask you if you have any friends or relatives that, when they get sick, you don't see them for two weeks? I mean, they sequester themselves completely; they cut off all contact with the outside world and spend the whole time in bed; that when you do see them, they look so insanely miserably you'd think they got hit by a truck while falling out of a tree and then stampeded by buffalo and you decide to avoid them until there's no possibility you could get the same thing?

Yeah, I'm one of those people.

My unwillingness to take any time off work probably lengthened my illness, but I was actually feeling quite good a week ago, back up to about 95%, when I woke up with chills and headaches and a cough. So I've spent the last week trying to get through bronchitis too.

I have a pretty sturdy inability to think when I'm sick, so absolutely no writing has been done. A week ago Sunday I spent about forty-five minutes brainstorming. That was the extent of that. So my goals of being done with the current project by mid-September have been pushed back.

I think I can still hit the beginning of October, which puts me with plenty of time for edits before World Fantasy. Cthulhu willing, I'll be able to work on edits for Butcher and Drums so that I feel good about pitching them. I'd love to have three books to pitch at World Fantasy.

This being said, I can't forget to do my homework. A couple months ago Dan was reminding me that I need to do my homework before I go so that I know which editors at what publishing houses I'm going to want to meet. This is very important for someone hitting the con circuit with design to sell. It makes it less of a crap shoot and gives me clear goals for the weekend.