As it’s been…. hrm, about a year and a half since I last updated this blog, a general catch-up post is probably in order. Also, I can’t believe it’s been that long. Time flies when you’re trying not to Internet!

1. Life: Overall, going very well. My marriage to Jim remains rock-solid and getting better all the time, which is both a miracle and a heck of a lot of work. We renovated the upstairs bathroom last fall; this spring, we’re doing the front porch, which should be the last significant change for a while. Our social life has definitely gotten more sedate over the last two years, with fewer late-night karaoke bashes and more done-before-midnight board game nights, but that fits nicely with the career-focused place we’re both at these days. We’ve got a fantastic circle of friends, most of whom are busy with their own awe-inspiring creative pursuits or world-improving endeavors, which makes for great dinner conversation.

2. Health: My physical well-being has been a bit up and down over the past few years; mostly the sort of nagging disorders which aren’t really serious enough for my doctor to waste specialist hours trying to understand, but bothersome enough to negatively impact my daily life. Insomnia, wild mood swings, digestive quirks, semi-chronic sickness and so on. Last spring I started taking a SNRI medication which has pretty much been a magic pill for my various anxiety and depression-related issues. I’m hoping the addition of regular exercise via the treadmill desk will take me the rest of the way to “fully functional human being”. Fingers crossed!

3. Work: Good in an often unrelentingly-busy sort of way. I’m still with UDON Entertainment, handling marketing, convention planning and some copy-editing tasks. We’re the sort of small operation where everybody winds up pitching in on whatever needs to get done at any particular moment, which has both pros and cons. I miss having a regular schedule, but working from home is great and I’ve had the chance to take on some really exciting projects. A few key work highlights include:

– Editing / project managing the World of Warcraft Tribute Collection (yes, I got paid to sort through amazing Warcraft artwork all day. Pinch me!)

– Writing the Rocket Fox webcomic for Namco Bandai’s ShiftyLook initiative

– Writing adaptations of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and LES MISERABLES for UDON’s upcoming Manga Classics line! The books will be launching in August, with a preview issue coming out as part of the Free Comic Book Day initiative in early May. I can’t wait!

4. Writing: In addition to comics writing for work, I’ve been keeping up a fairly steady output on my own creative prose projects. One finished novel had to be shelved at the finished first-draft stage when a high-profile media property with the *exact same* premise was released (argh!); another is in late-stage revisions and will be ready for querying by Spring 2014. As usual, my biggest challenge is keeping focused on the work directly in front of me and not being distracted by the half-dozen other shiny ideas twinkling around the edges of my brain.

On a disappointing note, I’ve parted ways with my agent. I know it’s the right long-term move for my writing career, but it was also a very difficult decision to make, as Judy really is one of the best agents in the industry – just not the right fit for me. That said, I’m feeling very confident about the novel I’m revising right now… although I’ll feel even better once these revisions are done, so back at it!