All grown up and junk
I just came back to Albuquerque after a week in Montana, where I had my first-ever book signing at Barjon's Books in Billings. That place will always have a special place in my heart, but now it's even more dear to me. I love supporting local bookstores because they do so much to support local authors and make sure that we can get our big breaks too. Apparently a bunch of people thought it would be an actual archaeology lecture, which was fine, but I had nothing prepared. I had expected to just answer questions and sign books, but I ended up giving an impromptu talk on Anglo-Saxon archaeology! Such fun. So appreciative to everyone who helped and to everyone who came out to see me.
It was great to spend some time back at the parents' ranch as well. Who else has a backyard view like this?
I can safely say that I got exactly zero writing done while I was visiting my family. No excuse. Just laziness. I did have fun, though, and I'm sure it will translate into writing at some point, right? *grins sheepishly*
Right now I'm working on Book 2: Wycing, which is the second of three books in the Sutton Hoo stories. In the last book there was a lot of trauma that we are basically coming to terms with, and it's really hard not to let it get too dark. I have to remind myself that even after death, PTSD, loss, fear, etc., they're still a family and they still act like one. It's not all doom and gloom all the time, and people with depression still have moments of joy through it all. I'm trying to mix it up as I'm writing; the bad events are already set in stone so I have been trying to do a sad/scary scene with a happy one, so that it doesn't drive me crazy.
It's been really fun to talk to people who have read the book and to feel their anger/frustration/joy about the plot and the characters. If I write a character that makes you want to hurl your book across the room in abject fury when something bad happens to them, then I have done my job correctly. It's not all fun and games, though. These guys are all basically imaginary friends to me and so hurting them really sucks. But you aren't going to read a novel about sunshine and daisies, now, are you?
