New Murder Shack friends & Head's Up

So last Thursday I thought I was being smacked down by allergies...nope. It was a cold--my first one in...I don't know how long. I've been sick for almost a week and slowly getting better. I don't have the best respiratory system, so when I get a head cold, I have to be really careful to avoid getting sinus infections as well as my asthma getting triggered. As my husband likes to joke, I was built to be an indoor kid. So far we're good on the sinuses...but I've had to bust out my inhaler. Though I'm grateful for my inhaler, I hate using it. It makes me feel weird and sometimes a little light headed, especially if I haven't had to use it in a long time. So between my cold and going to Mississippi for my uncle's wake (my first trip in...again, I have no idea how long), I haven't written a word in two weeks. Which feels weird. And makes me grumpy. I'm not good at being idle for long. Unfortunately, I haven't really been able to concentrate or focus enough to write, which means I'm stuck in the fun limbo of being antsy to work and also not being able to work.

Hopefully I'll be well enough tomorrow, because I become short tempered and grouchy when I haven't written in awhile. I have no idea why. 

So I'm in the Murder Shack today for the first time in...a week? I think a week. What is time?

But last Thursday, when I thought it was just allergies, I went with my family to Archie McPhee's in Seattle to pick up some stuff. If you've never been, I suggest you check out their website. It's hard to describe Archie's to someone who has never been there. They make weird stuff. But they also have old weird stuff. Like, you might find N'Sync stickers, or old Halloween decorations, along with bacon candy and unicorn masks. But you can also get hard to find candy--like candy cigarettes, which were everywhere when I was a kid and (for obvious reasons) aren't about now--as well as weird medical and industrial surplus stuff. It's hard to explain, but if you check out their website, you might get an idea.

Anyway, we walked out with a bunch of stuff, but I got a few things for the office. A new little werewolf and vampire toy as well as a Despair pennant. Man Friend also picked up a squirrel feeder unicorn head, which he has since hung from the fence in front of my window. So far we haven't tempted the squirrels. We need to get peanuts, I think, because birds keep stealing the sunflower seeds. (We just happened to have that on hand.) I haven't decided where to put the pennant or the new figures yet.

Hopefully I'll be much recovered by Saturday evening, because I'm going to be part of a panel discussion about comics with a local graphic novel artist and some GeekGirlCon folks. I'll post the link when I get it. I think it's on Twitch? Clearly I've been out of it. 

Soon I'll be posting preorder links for Curses--of course the general ones are up all over the internet, but for signed copies I will be going through two of my local bookshops, Third Place Books and Neverending Bookstore. I'll be sending fancy new bookmarks and stuff along with the signed books. Already preordered through your favorite indie? Don't worry--I'll be putting something together so that people can get bookmarks and signed bookplates if they order elsewhere. (Also to anyone who has preordered--thank you! Publishers pay attention to that stuff. A lot. So it really, really helps.)

It's been a rough April. Besides being sick, I had a wake for my uncle as I mentioned. (He died last April, but the family held off the celebration.) I have a wake next weekend, too, for my friend's dad--cancer. I've known the family since I was 16 or 17, it will be a rough day. On top of that, in the last week, Man Friend lost one of his online gaming buddies, which has hit him hard. We found out my cousin passed away. Then I found out my friend's son also passed away. And yesterday another one of my childhood friend's lost her mom to cancer, again someone I've known since I was 16 or so.

We ran out of sympathy cards. Which I feel like is a pretty apt sum up of this last year. Our family is doing okay, but it's a lot to process. I've bought more sympathy cards in the past year than I think I've bought in the last ten. Partially, this is because I can't go to people in person like I normally would. But mostly, it's just the year. 

I don't mean to end this post on such a freaking downer. So let me say this--thank you. Big thanks to all of you, especially to the ones who jump on here and comment and like things and say, "hi!" It means a lot to me and is a bright spot in my day.

I hope you're all well.

Hugs from Seattle,

Lish