That took longer than it should have

This time I really am back.

I didn't expect to not have things up and running until November, but that's apparently what happened.  I still haven't accomplished everything I expected to get done when I signed off of the blog back in July, to be honest.  Still, I'm working at it.


I did move.  Kevin and the cats and I occupy a smaller living space now.  The cats took a little while to adjust but they seem to have grown to like it here; there's a nice big window here in the bedroom where they can spy on the squirrels who live in the forest behind the apartment complex.  This is very important work, you realize, and it requires a lot of concentration, so they tend to take turns.  Maddy prefers the mornings, when the sun hits the window; Random takes the spot whenever she abandons it.

Bob and I had our Pip the Mouse book signing at the Moravian Bookshop and it went well.  I finally got to meet the guy who illustrated our book!  We even got paid for the event, which I hadn't expected, so that was a big plus, and now they've invited us back.  We'll be there for just a couple of hours on Saturday, November 16th.  Next month we'll be attending the tree-lighting ceremony in Quakertown, PA, and signing books there.  I don't question these things, I just go where I'm told.  If you're interested in all the latest Pip shenanigans, be sure to follow us on Facebook.

Not everything that's happened since last I wrote has been happy, of course.  Easily the worst thing to come to pass was that we lost Anne.  I didn't really talk about this project on here, but Anne is - was - my former boss, when Kevin and I used to work together.  She was sort of like our mutual surrogate grandmother, since all of our grandparents have passed.  A few months back, she called me and asked me to help her write her memoirs, because her health was declining.  She wanted to get everything written down for her progeny, and she said I was the most qualified person she knew to help her.  I wasn't exactly thrilled about her declining health, but I was really excited about working with her on the book, and every Wednesday I'd go to her house and talk to her about her extremely interesting life and record the sessions.  We decided we would take the month of September off from the project, though, because of my moving and house-sitting for my vacationing parents and well, she wasn't feeling so great anyway.  You can see where this is going; I got a call at the beginning of October that our Anne left us.  I still have the tapes; I still plan to write the book; but it won't be easy.  Every so often I remember that she's not here anymore and I get really upset.

Having spent several weeks away from regular internet, it's good to have it again.  During the hiatus, though, I was able to make several important notes and discoveries about both my offline novel and The Graystone Saga, and I should resume updating the latter within the coming week.  I usually have Wednesdays off, and since I no longer have an interview to conduct on Wednesdays and I'm sad about it, I think I might make that the story's update day so I can be less sad.

So to make a long story short (too late, I know), I am back and you may expect to see regular updates on Mondays and Thursdays once again.  Thank you for your support.  :)