What’s next? Well, there’s a dentist visit coming up, which will include assessment of the tooth most affected by the face-to-sidewalk smash, some work deferred while working on tech & organization, including an ad for ArmadilloCon and other arrangements for the release of DEEDS OF YOUTH. Today was in part folding laundry. It would’ve been a good nap except the phone kept ringing and buzzing at me. SIGH. Got very little actual rest. So bed early tonight. Also need a visit with the eye guy for a new prescription for bifocals and whatever else shows up. And of course there’s more to do on the whole reorganization thing in the OTHER rooms, and a smaller amount to do here in the study even though it looks…really…good right now.
The brain is just coming out of the “whack on the head” fog, familiar from the too-many concussions in the past. It gets euphoric when it’s first whacked (“I’m fine, nothing’s wrong, whoo-hoo!”) and then subsides into a peculiar state of blur and drifting, and then begins to realize it’s BEEN drifting and not chugging along as it should, and then (I hope!) packs all the parts in tight again, brings the steam up and chug-chugs on. So, despite the negative clear evidence of concussion on the CT scan, I think whacking my head on the sidewalk DID do concussion-type damage, just not nearly as much. Some bones are still sore when I touch them, some other things are still uncomfortable, but I’m feeling more mentally here-and-now and less wool-gathery-drifting.
OK: pictures of study makeover not *quite* finished: from the hall door (approx), from the east side of room to my desk corner (window looks NW), from door along S wall to E window.
On the last day I found a notebook missing for years–largely because I was so sure it was black I hadn’t looked inside the BLUE one. DUH. Full of things that may show up in future collections, mostly related to Paksworld & fantasy in general. A BLACK notebook with my first published stories in it (printed on an NEC Spinwriter, for which I found two cartridges), most of these science fiction, for a future SF collection. I need to get in touch with Texas A&M and have them remove some of the mss that take up an amazing amount of cubage when you’ve got as many of them as I have. And they’re long books, so fat mss. I found the original typed pages of The Deed of Paksenarrion at its full (well, no, but cut only by me, not yet seen by an editor) length. Each section in its own manila folder *with a label*…that level of organization did not last long once I started writing more AND had a kid to care for.
How cool to see your study! Thank you for sharing! Glad you’re feeling better. Hope that continues more and more until you feel better than ever.
Floor!! Floor without piles of stuff. I feel accomplished that I’ve halved the number of stacks but that’s as far as I’ve gotten. Brava!
Yeah…floor without piles and alluvial fans of stuff completely concealing the floor except for a tiny, wide-as-shoe crooked path from door to chair. AMAZING. There was a time, in Olden Days, when I cleared the floor completely after turning a book in (worked off the tension of the days waiting until I heard from Editor-of-that-one.) but it had been FAR too long since the floor had been opened up. It’s HARD to sort & discard when you’re the kind of person who writes important notes, numbers, passwords, on the backs of envelopes or reverse of a ms. page.
Wow, you need a few more books – laughter – but it does look nice. Hang onto these early manuscripts – perhaps you could publish fragments or entire sequences, especially if they offer different situations – much like is done with JRRTolkein. And you have found more stuff for the future graduate student to peruse.
And I do worry about you hitting your head – should we put you in the helmets that certain developmentally challenged people have to wear.
Stay safe and stay sane.
I definitely need more books. Keep seeing reviews of books I want, besides replacing the lost ones (my thesaurus, my Liddell & Scott Greek lexicon, my good field guide to Texas & SW wildflowers instead of the one whose binding broke and a section fell out in pieces…for starters.) Along with Liddell & Scott, the LATIN one has walked away from its shelf, too.
Wow! Congratulations on the office cleanup! It looks great, just the way your fans would like to think of it looking, with books in order on shelves and space to work.
Having the space and organization must give a feeling of freedom. Getting the rest of the house sorted and better organized must feel great for all. Making the decision to get assistance, finding someone who could help with physical organization AND technical matters, following through with the process, actually Getting Rid of Stuff, and now continuing to finish the rest of the houseS? Bravo, bravo!
I’m a little surprised that the Aggies will get your materials and not Fondren, but presume they have more room, and that there are other Real Reasons for the choice, like having a collection of the materials of other authors.
I’m sorry to hear that you’re not done with recovery from the impact with the planet. The good news is that you’re continuing to recover, even if more slowly than you’d like. Getting older isn’t always fun, but it beats the only alternative available so far.
Again, congratulations on the progress and process, and very best wishes for more!