Friday, May 24, 2013

Feline Friday: The General Update Version

Is it just me, or is spring/early summer a crazy time? I feel like I'm racing around like a crazy person (no comments from the peanut gallery) trying to get everything done. Of course, dealing with the Year of the Rat in the middle of everything else didn't help...

So--here's a general update on what I've been up to:

Rats! -- I think I've gotten all the little devils. Fourteen in total. (Even the pest guy said, "Wow, that's a lot of rats." Seriously...you don't want to impress the pest guy.) It has been over a week since I caught the last one, and I'm not hearing anything in the walls anymore. Whew. As a bonus, two not-very-bright mice came out of the walls a couple of days ago and were summarily dispatched by the cats. (Who were clearly trying to prove that it wasn't their fault that the rats had only come out into places that the cats aren't allowed to go.)

Today, the appliance repair guy comes to replace the chewed-through hoses on the washer and the dishwasher (ka-ching!), so I will be back in business there. Sometime next week, the pest guy will come back to clean the disgusting mess the rats made of the basement (those suckers poop everywhere). More ka-ching, but he can do it safely and I can't, so there you go.

Once THAT'S done, one of my handyman pals will come over and patch all the holes in the walls of the basement (some of which are so large, you can see daylight through them...thanks again, RATS) and generally try to spiff the place up a bit. (Ka--oh, nevermind. You see where I'm going with this. The damn rats are costing me a lot of money.) After that, or maybe during, I'm going to have my electrician put much better lighting down there, so the next time there is a problem, I will hopefully spot it earlier. Also, it will be a little less spooky....

Jewelry -- It's spring, so I am in the midst of a spurt of jewelry making, trying to round out my existing stock at The Artisans' Guild with brighter seasonal colors (like rose quartz and aventurine) and fill in the gaps in everything else (how did I end up only having ONE pair of lapis earrings?). In theory, I'd planned to finish this before I started work on the next book. In reality, life interfered (see rats, above) and so I will probably finish up this weekend. What, you thought I was going to be relaxing?

I've pretty much given up on the Etsy site, mostly because I just don't have time to keep updating it, but if you ever want a piece of jewelry [I'm looking at you, Lisa Shearin], just let me know and I'll see what I've got.

Writing -- I'm waiting for my lovely new editor at Berkley, Leis Pedersen, to get back to me with edits for The Baba Yaga (gulp). I just went through and reread it prior to starting on the 2nd book in the series, and the good news is that it was even better than I remembered. The bad news is...it was even better than I remembered. (GULP) Now I have to equal or exceed that quality in the next one. Oy. If you look at the word count meter at the top of the blog, you can see that I have started working on The Baba Yaga's Sister. It's going slower than I'd like (see rats and jewelry, above), but the beginning of new books almost always is slow going for me.

I'm also getting ready to teach another couple of classes, and madly trying to get the garden in the ground in between torrential rainstorms.

What are you all up to these days?

And as promised, here are this week's cute cat pics. You're welcome :-)

Oh, and a belated happy birthday to my pal Sierra Meinster, who as usual, is giving me an invaluable assist with research for the new book. She rocks.

Samhain and Mystic on the couch. You can really see the difference between their sizes here (and why it is so rude that he is usually trying to beat the crap out of her for no particular reason). Every once in a while I will find them sitting on the couch next to each other. Samhain is seemingly relaxed, but she always has one eye open. On the other hand, she is stubborn, so she also doesn't budge...

This is Angus, shot over my shoulder the other day while I sat in the Red Chair of Writing. Clearly, he was taking his job of supervising my work very seriously. (Cats are the only creatures on earth who can supervise with their eyes closed, you know.)

I hope you all have great plans for the Memorial Day weekend (if you live in the US), and that you aren't feeling too crazy trying to keep up with life.


15 comments:

  1. It's definitely feeling crazy around here! I'm wrapping up the last round of edits and getting ready to write series pitches and a synopsis (ARGH). And our kids have something going on every single night next week except for Monday, thank goodness. I think we will be needing yoga class to make it through the insanity. All my garden will be getting from me in the next couple of weeks is water...

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    1. We've had four days of rain, so no watering needed here (although hip boots, maybe...oh, wait...the RATS ate my boots).

      Looking forward to things calming down for you so I get to talk to you again!

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  2. Glad to hear the rat situation is under control! And your kitties are looking adorable as always! (Btw, where did you get that couch cover? I could use something like that for my cats.) My weekend includes getting over a ridiculous cold (yes, in May...). I'll also be celebrating the Full Moon AND my cat Tiger's 2nd month living with us. (I call her my Full Moon Cat!) Have a great weekend!

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    1. I got the couch cover at Bed, Bath & Beyond, actually. It wasn't cheap, but it is easily washable and worth every penny :-)

      Happy Full Moon and welcome to Tiger!

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  3. Nice cats! They look so tame when they're sleeping, don't they? :-)

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  4. Love the cat pictures. I understand about the Etsy site although it was fun to browse. I think I'd directed J to it at one point as an example of "pretty things I like" since he's told me that he tries to keep a mental list of the pieces I drool over at local markets or online. We very rarely actually buy though.

    I'm so excited about the series :) You have no idea.

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    1. I love that you're excited about the books :-)

      And I haven't given up on the site forever (at least not yet)...just letting it sit fallow for now. You can always sent J my way if necessary!

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  5. Yay, rat season is over! On to bigger and better things this summer! Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

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    1. So long as they're not bigger and better RATS!

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  6. Glad you've got all the rats and wow that you impressed the pest guy. Yeah, never a good thing.

    The cats are lovely as always and I'm amazed that Samhain and Mystic are sharing a space without violence. Just goes to show that Mystic is crafty, trying to lull Samhain into complacency while she is wary enough to avoid it. Complicated little people, cats.

    So looking forward to BY2! Happy to copy edit again if you like. (Nothing selfish, like being able to read early versions of the story or anything ....) Hope you get a ton of writing done this weekend and still are able to get out into the garden a bit for your sanity (or what's left of it).

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    1. Skye, I will happily take you up on that. Also, I may run the first few chapters past you soon...just to make sure they don't suck.

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  7. Hi, Deborah. I have been following you posts forever, it seems. I love the pictures of your resident furry companions, had eight of my own when I retired. The things you get into for the love of cats. I have been visiting feral cat colonies (supposedly research for a book) It turned into a passion to help in some way. So I added a page to my blog called Catamania. Anyway, I'm glad the rat thing is over for you. I'm looking forward to downloading your book to my faithful e-reader.

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    1. Hi Mary! Catamania..I think I have that. Is there a cure? :-)

      And be very careful visiting those colonies. It can be very dangerous... (Because you want to take them home.)

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