That greeting is referring to me, not to you. I have been missing in action for a while with the beginning of the semester and some personal travails. If you are so led, you can hear a little about my life and perhaps commiserate.
I have finished the book events for my latest novel, Lying In. I am proud of it and am getting good reaction. You can buy it on Kindle, perhaps the easiest and cheapest way, or through me as a hardback for $20. More of course, on Amazon. I believe you will find it a story well worth reading, whether you are man or woman. I do not want to be a "woman's writer." I want to write well, period.
Which has created a bit of a problem for me. To write well requires solitude and periods of uninterrupted time for deep thought. I do not have that now, and instead of being frustrated that I am not writing, I am accepting the reality of not writing now and even the possibility of not writing another novel ever again. While unlikely, I may not be able to do so. It will disappoint me but will not put me in despair. Writing ten novels without a whole lot to show for it is more likely to do that.
My desire to write well, write only significant material, may be more of a barrier than the current time constraints. But the time constraints are real. Since August 1 I have been tethered to a computer while setting up online class materials, creating a new class (I can't complain; I proposed it and got it accepted), advising and straightening out student schedules and problems and onboarding new faculty, writing massive reports, and creating the spring schedule.
However, my faithful MAC of ten years crashed, and I mean crashed. The wonderful technicians at PCPI in Dalton (I need to post a review) salvaged the hard drive but the computer had finally succumbed to accumulated moisture. I was without it for ten days, setting me back on projects and putting me in a state of tension that some important files would never be retrieved. Thankfully, they sold me a refurbished Dell that I completely love for its bigger screen and keyboard, and I'm getting back to productivity. I also learned my lesson. Everything belongs in the cloud. (Although the dirty secret is that the cloud is causing some severe ecological challenges because of its need for water; see footnote.)
However, before the MAC crashed, so did my septic system, meaning the following:
These do not give a sense of the scale of the new system. I have confidence I won't need another, or even a pumping, for several years, and that I can expect ROI when I go to sell (maybe), but we are in a drought and most of my yard looks like the dustbowl.
In addition, my publisher has sold her business, but I know the buyer and we've had a good talk already. Family is coming this week; the mornings are refreshingly cooler; my podcast continues; I still frequent the farmers market; my granddaughter is beautiful and "a mess;" I am helping edit a book about a local historic site; and two other things.
First, I have lost access to my two other blogs. It's a password issue and too long of a story to explain. I have decided to let them exist without any more additions. One has almost 3000 posts, and I can still access the content of both if I need to. However, I think they have become too, ahem, eclectic to be of use. I need something with some focus. This one on the website is about writing; if and when I start a new one, it will lean toward spirituality and something of audience value rather than my random, sometimes quirky, sometimes ill-informed views of the day.
Second, this is my last "beginning of the school year." Next August I may be lost or I may be ecstatic. I am retiring in May 2025. I keep reminding myself of this decision's wisdom, pushing aside how emotionally bereft I might be. I already have a European cruise planned with family. I also want to travel to Japan and start a new career as a communication consultant. I do want to stop being bothered at 10 p.m. about some non-emergency that someone I work with is convinced matters.
After spending several hours of my Saturday on grading and course prep, retirement sounds quite good. Thanks for reading. Post a comment about your big life changes.
Data centers that support cloud computing use a lot of water to cool their systems, which can be controversial and have a negative impact on local communities. For example, in 2021, Google's data centers consumed around 4.3 billion gallons of water, which is more than a quarter of the annual water consumption in The Dalles, Oregon, where some of their data centers are located. Microsoft also consumed almost 1.7 billion liters of water in 2022.
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