Ever felt like you had too many balls in the air? I’m starting to get that feeling. And losing an hour of sleep isn’t helping. Okay, so I understand back in the distant future when we were mostly an agrarian society, we had to make daylight adjustments so all the planting and sowing could get done. But guess what? We’ve evolved – not that I don’t have complete and utter respect for farmers – they work long, hard hours and deserve many thanks. But, wouldn’t it be a better idea if farmers just got up earlier and the rest of us slept in and didn’t fudge with the clocks? And don’t get me started on clocks – that’s a 20-minute job in this house and no matter how hard I try, they are never in sync. But I digress . . . hats off to Hawaii and Arizona – both states have stopped the silly policy of daylight savings time. And it isn’t just the inconvenience, studies show that heart attacks and strokes happen as much as 24% more often at DST. And yes, when we fall back in November, those number go back down. Even our bodies are telling us this is a really bad idea.
Oh, and another thing . . . tomorrow I get No Returns (the Finley super novella – shorter than 100,000 words but longer than a novella) back from the formatter. So with an hours’ less sleep, I’m going to have to figure out how to upload the book. I must admit, I’m a tad terrified. I’ve never done this before, but everyone seems to think this will be a walk in the park. Yeah, well, anytime someone tells me something is a walk in the park I pretty much panic. And even though I’ve written since the days of the IBM Selectric, I actually have very few technical skills when it comes to computers. I’ve decided that as I do this, I’m going to write down the steps and put them in a blog. Maybe someone(s) has done this, but I haven’t been able to find it. And in this digital world – some of us need guidelines to help us through the process. In the old days we called this mentoring. I don’t hear that word very often. Which makes me sad. I’m lucky enough to have some great friends who have been with me since before that first sale and within a few years, we all sold our first books. We’ve been buds ever since. We still help each other – stuck on something? Plot hole opened up? Editor making you insane? We all have each other to talk to so maybe you can use part of your new daylight to reach out to a friend. (That was a tiny aside) . . . back to the task at hand.
I’m so excited that Finley is back. I LOVE writing the character but I completely understand Grand Central wanting to step away from a series that’s already been done by 2 previous publishers. And I’m looking very forward to introducing you to Peyton Tanner – she’s Finley’s ½ sister. And I look especially love the idea of having Fin pop up in the Peyton books so we can keep tabs on her. I also love that I have the ability to write a Finley story and offer it digitally because, well, I’m not ready to give her up yet. I was in downtown Palm Beach with a friend a few weeks ago and we had a little moment of confusion in the parking garage that would have made a perfect Finley and Jane scene, so she is definitely in my brain at all times. The idea for Finley started way back in 2004, so I feel like she’s my errant child and I’m unwilling to cut the apron strings. So, Finley isn’t over until we get the wedding invitation in the mail.
Watch this space, FaceBook and Twitter and you’ll know exactly when No Returns is available this week!
rhondapollero 