Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Just Outpacing the Darkness

Well, this new year, thus far, has not been the best of times. My father's been sick and mostly in bed for the last few weeks, and we've been quite worried about him at points. There has also been a severe air inversion in the valley for the last...month I suppose. The air quality was listed as "unhealthy" today, and that's as good as it's been since Christmas. I've retreated into work, reading, playing games, and listening to audiobooks, just to maintain some level of mental equilibrium. For those of you keeping track of my progress, that should be checked as a "No" in the productivity column.

I did submit "The Man in the Long Black Coat" to The First Line, and hope it does well. If not, you'll see it, in slightly modified form, on Wolf Steel. I have to start sending "At the Turning of the Age" around to the fantasy mags, too. I've hardly had the heart to even look recently. Then, of course, there's King Snake. No progress. Kelly, if you're out there, you may commence the cyber-nagging.

I don't know what's in store for me. I'll have to soldier on regardless. I'll keep you posted.

3 comments:

Kelly Swails said...

Sorry to hear about your dad. Hope he comes around. *cyber-hug*

Writing takes a lot of mental and emotional energy, and if you've got other stuff going on, of course you're not going to be as productive. You'll get back on the horse, though, once things smooth out on the family front. It's nice to read you're sending things out. But still, I feel I must nudge you to get in front of the keyboard. Even 300 words a day is better than nothing, and you might find it heals your soul a bit. *gentle cyber-nag*

MB said...

Wishing you better health for your father ...and a bunch of fresh air and fresh energy for you. (There are times when I just *can't* write, but if I can, sometimes it really helps to pull me through a tough time. Just a thought for you.)

Patrick M. Tracy said...

Kelly,

Thanks a lot for your well-wishing. I was really low for a few days, but I'm feeling less blue right now. My father isn't quite as ill, and so he may be coming home from the hospital in the next few days.

I'll do my best to keep writing. I need to get back at it (along with a variety of other things). Again, thanks for coming by.

MB,

It's been a little nicer weather around here for the last few days. They're saying that the air inversion might come back, but thus far, we may actually get a day or two of sunny weather. That does more than a little to bring the spirits up. I guess the good news is that after I've had a rough time, I usually have a lot to say about it, and so I suppose that hard times are like seeds for poems.

Be well, everyone.