34: strange days
Portrait of a newsletter written over several days...
Monday: This time last week I was on a mountain in Santa Fe, having the ultimate (well, my ultimate--since these places are $$) Japanese-style spa day. Although, I did wear the same T-shirt I'm wearing here at my desk to get there. I bought it at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum the day before, and it has a quote from her on the back: "Take time to look..."
Good advice. And it occurred to me, looking at all the portraits of O'Keeffe by many, many photographers that if she were around now we'd probably have some very interesting selfies of her. So much of her work reads as an interior landscape melding with the real one around her. Seeing her work all in one place, I was struck by how personal it is--when I think we've sort of been taught that she was at a remove, landscapes, abstract concepts and compositions. But almost everything maps directly onto the world around her at any given time. And those portraits by other people too! What a great face.
Tuesday: I stepped aside to finish up a couple of deadlines (one more! for now!) and return now, which is possibly an even stranger "where I was this time last week" than yesterday. That would be resting up the day of a big party at the interactive art exhibit Meow Wolf, which was attended by a bunch of writers and some Hollywood types in town to shoot a movie there (like Ethan Hawke) and other celebs (Paul Allen, who Christopher now has a very funny anecdote involving). This is the kind of thing that happens when George R.R. Martin is hosting the party, or rather when his agent is. We were in Santa Fe because Christopher is part of the Wild Cards consortium GRRM runs and his agent throws a party for the writers each year -- and also Christopher is working on a pretty in-depth project set in that world so they needed to have some meetings. While I went to the spa. ;) Which, I have to tell you I felt guilty about immediately, but was in fact a complete mental reset and memorable enough to justify the expense and the day off. (Yes, if you're wondering, George is a lovely guy, and his many minions are also entirely lovely! We LOVE visiting Santa Fe.)
Thursday: And now I'm finishing this up in a chik-fil-a in Bowling Green, Kentucky, two hours from home, because I was starving when I got to the hotel and didn't see anyone I knew yet. So I'm ducking out for food and will head back for drinks and snoozes. This was a busssy writing week, with assistance by the pets hovering in the office. I finished up the first draft of the serial pilot, which I started on our Santa Fe holiday, and turned it in. Then I had some other quick edits to do, and another quick pass on the bible for the serial for TV/film types to look at, and Christopher and I are also doing our last (probably) round of middle grade edits (time travel is the devil). Which is fun, but a lot. But soon the flurry of deadlines will be past. And then I have to finish a new book. *scream face*
Anyway, I'm here for the first Young Adult Southern Book Con (YAS) https://yasbookcon.org, which should be a blast and if you're in the area you should come check it out. Tomorrow is a schools day and then Saturday anyone can come. So come! Christopher was going to be at this one too, but he has a deathly sounding cough and so he decided to stay home and cuddle the pets. I will impersonate both of us on all our panels. And we'll be trading files with edits back and forth on the dropbox. At least this trip will be a) filled with pals and b) quick! Next weekend we'll both be at Books by the Banks in Cincinnati, so come find us at that too!
What else? All the Cirque American books are on serious kindle sale at the moment. So if you're missing Girl on a Wire or Girl in the Shadows or Girl Over Paris, you're in luck.
This was going to be a newsletter filled with thinkings and process talk, but as you can see -- deadline swarm prevented. Soon! Next one, even!