I updated my website yesterday. This is one of my favorite procrastination tools and it's positively insidious. Hours pass as if they were minutes and before I know quite what happened, I've lost all opportunity to write. Sigh.
But really, I had to update the site, didn't I? I mean I sold a new book, I have to update the "What's Next" page and the "News" page. Oh, and of course the "Home" page. Actually, these updates shouldn't have taken that long, but FrontPage was doing some goofy things to my layout on the "What's Next" page. I must have redid it about 20 times. Finally, I just started from scratch. Twice. I still don't love how it turned out, but after wasting hours messing with it, I decided it wasn't hideous and so I left it.
Found out at work today that I'm going to be swamped for about a year. There used to be two of us doing this job, but when Kris left, they didn't replace her so I've been on my own for more than a year now. It's mostly been okay. There's only been a few times I've been overwhelmed and they didn't last long. Now, however, it's going to be a different story. Almost all the fleets have one or more big projects coming in the next year and they all need me to do something time consuming, yet BORING, for them. They're trying to find someone to help me out, but there really isn't anyone. We're stretched VERY thin in Tech Ops.
I've also found time to obsess about the new book. Clearly there are copies out there that have been read. I mean Amazon and Half.com both have used copies for sale. Or had. I've been watching. So obviously people have read The Power of Two and didn't like it. I mean if they liked it, they'd keep the book, right? And I haven't heard anything from anyone saying they loved it. Okay, so the book isn't officially out until Nov 2nd. Okay, so people have lives and may not have finished it yet or even started it yet for that matter. Okay, so most people do not email the author to gush or post on the message boards about how much they loved a book. I get that. But I so want to hear that people loved Power of Two. Not only did I put my heart and soul into this story, but I think it's the best thing I've ever written. The silence seems so deafening.
Anyway, I need to do some more thinking and working on the new, still untitled book. I really have to get going on that because the deadline is short. I know I can do it, but I need to start!
