I just wanted to update readers on why my blog has been dormant for a few weeks this month. For the most part, I have been busy putting the finishing touches to my novel and dealing with final edits, manuscript formatting, cover design work and so on. These are time consuming things that go hand in hand with self-publishing that I don't think are issues for writers who publish through publishing houses.
The good news is that the work is almost done - it has taken around three years to reach this point, when I had originally estimated that I could have the work completed and published within a year of starting! If all goes to plan, I hope to have the novel available before the beginning of summer. Fingers crossed.
Work on my novel was interrupted, however, when a couple of Saturdays ago, this happened. You can get a visual here. I happened to be around fifty meters away from where the bomber is believed to have accidentally detonated, in a shopping center where it is thought the bomber intended to strike. Lucky me.
So people are on edge around here, and the streets were almost empty for a couple of days afterwards. No one I know was hurt, but is it sobering to be reminded that you can be scrubbed out of existence in a split second on any given day. In short, I haven't been in the right frame of mind for a couple of weeks to do the necessary research and reading to post on the blog, even though I have several drafts awaiting their finishing touches.
This week, spring seemed to have sprung and we have had a couple of glorious sunny days with clear blue skies and cool breezes coming in off the water. This I think has lifted, somewhat, the city's mood - or at least, it has lifted mine - and I sense that life is slowly returning to normal.
I hope to return to normal programming by the weekend.
