As in … water in my office? Really? Do the gods of Fate not understand I have a book to write? ::sigh:: One of my sprinkler valves had a nervous breakdown on Friday morning. It came on and stayed on … for five hours. And a lot of that water came sliding into home office. My house is now a wreck. I’ve had to empty my office of all books and files, so the recovery guys can pull up (and probably replace) the carpeting and dry everything out. Fortunately, I’m a tidy sort, so no books or papers were on the floor where they could get soaked. And none of my computer equipment is on the floor either, so that’s all good. And I’d even planned on replacing the bookshelves in my office, and doing a spring cleaning of my files … BUT NOT THIS MONTH!! Grrrrrr.

So, my house is in chaos, and my office smells awful. I’ve moved my operations to the living room and my big chair, which is comforting. Writers need to be comforted when their work space is defiled.

Okay, enough kvetching. I got a lot of work done this week (take THAT, oh ye gods of Fate!) The DH and I even managed to do dinner and a movie yesterday (self-defense, to get away from the wet and the stink.) We saw Olympus Has Fallen. The first half is great. The second half … um, my professor DH thought it strained the boundaries of Willing Suspension of Disbelief. The graduate student in me would have to agree with him. But it was fun watching Gerard Butler get all grubby and sweaty and kick some ass. I think I liked that part better than the DH did.:D

GRIMM toyed with my emotions this week when Juliet threatened to leave town if Monroe didn’t take her to Nick’s trailer, and I’m like, “Don’t take her, Monroe!” Alas, she went to the trailer, so I guess we’re stuck with her. GAME OF THRONES (Winter is Coming!) started its season with an excellent episode. I had no trouble at all getting back into the story, although, of course, I’ve read the books which helped. JUSTIFIED had another fine episode, even though I couldn’t care less about Ellen May. Her character long outlived my interest in her. Raylan was in fine form, though, so it’s all good.

You know who else is in fine form … very fine form … Aden. And speaking of Aden, do I have any native Arabic speakers amongst my readers? I need colloquial Arabic, and that means I need a native speaker. If you’re out there, please email me at dbreynoldswriter@live.com. I’ll acknowledge you in the, um, Acknowledgments, and you’ll get a signed copy of ADEN as thanks!

I’ve updated the info on requesting bookmarks/bookplates, specifically to address international mailings. The postal coupon thing doesn’t work well, and obviously foreign stamps don’t work, so I’m instituting a new policy. I also updated my 100 Books in a Year Challenge, and added a couple of reviews on GoodReads. Somehow I don’t think reading 100 books in one year is going to be much of a challenge. I guess I read more than I realized. Maybe next year, I’ll go for 200. Hmmm, maybe not. Depends on my writing commitments.

Today is April 1. Impossible, I know. Next month is Brenda Novak’s annual Auction for Diabetes Research (maybe her last.) She always has some great things up for auction, and among the offerings this year will be a chance to name a character in ADEN. Yay! Stay tuned for dates and links.

Okay, back to work for yours truly. I have to make up for the last two water-logged days. Ugh.

Happy April – and no joke from me. (Unlike Nalini Singh, who really had me going with her wererabbits!)

xoxo
DBR