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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Hey Belinda, Where Have You Been?

Boy, I can’t believe it’s been well over a month since Gay Rom Lit and the release of ‘When I Fall.’ Generally when there have been a couple big events like this, I jump all over guest blogs and such, promoting my book and sharing my experiences.

First off, I apologize for not blogging about Gay Rom in New Orleans. It was a really special convention put on by a bunch of talented and dedicated authors and organizers. My congratulations to them! I got to reunite with some of my best writing buddies, meet lots of new people and see some dear friends face-to-face for the first time.

We stayed in the majestic Bourbon Orleans Hotel, and I have to say that the rumors of its hauntings appear to be quite valid. (especially given the mischievous entity that interacted with us in Lynn and Amanda’s room!) And of course, New Orleans is such a spectacular city. Every time I leave, I wish I could have had just another day.

When I returned, I noticed that my mother seemed…not well. She’s 76 years old and has had a few health issues this past year, but I was still concerned that she appeared to have come down with a flu bug. About a month ago, she got up on a Sunday morning came out to me in the living room.

“I need to go to the emergency room.”

Well, when my mother says something like that, I know that she probably should have gone days ago. She’s stoic, to say the least. And I was right, she’d developed an ulcer which had perforated, spilling all sorts of nasty stuff into her gut. Her gall bladder and pancreas then got into the act. It was a very dire emergency and we nearly lost her.

So the past few weeks have been pretty busy for me. There have been other crisis to weather, a few really major issues have affected members of my family. Plus, I’ve not only been caregiving for Mom and my niece KJ, (who has Angelman’s Syndrome) I’ve been doing the fencing in the dog yards, prepping Wyatt for a big circuit of shows he was scheduled to compete in, (7 wins in 8 shows!) And to confirm that I am indeed slightly demented, I competed in NaNoWriMo. LOL!

Today, Mom is on the couch next to me, complaining that she’s just so tired and weak. She hasn’t quite come to accept that she nearly died. I just returned from Stockton, where I watched Wyatt finish his championship and reclaimed my pooch. Because of NaNo, I’ve got nearly 40K on a Truckee Wolves novel and a start on a western ménage. It looks like things are returning to normal. Not the old normal, I’m not sure how long it’s going to take for my mother to recover fully. I may have to scale back on future conventions, but that’s ok for now. There are other ways to develop a writing career. Like…writing instead of traveling…LOL!

So welcome me back to the world of the living, folks! It’s good to be back where I belong!

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