Control-Alt-Delete

That keystroke combination still stands for everything that's wrong with Windows, even when Microsoft ironically started using it for a completely different (even opposite) function.

I'm not rebooting, but refreshing. Both this blog and my writing. I still have little time for either, but I'm hoping to make the best use of the time that I do have. Along those lines, I'm going to challenge myself to a "mini-NaNoWriMo" and write 15,000 words by the end of this month. That works out to rough drafts of three short stories, which will eventually find their way into publication.

This blog will also evolve, but I'm not sure in what direction. It probably won't be focused solely on writing, since I haven't done much of it for a long while :)

Hiatus

Over the past few months, I've had to put my fiction writing career on hold due to family obligations. I'm pondering ideas for keeping this blog going, meanwhile. I'll be back!

Listmania

Happy 2014 to all two readers of this blog!

Around this time of year, various types of lists predominate. In fact, Bombay Bhel was recently mentioned in one. That mention prompted me to do a list of my own, on entirely random things, unrelated to writing, and with no theme in particular. It's likely to be the direction this blog takes for 2014, but more on that later.

So, as Julie Andrews warbled those many years ago, these are a few of my favorite things.

1. Favorite music video of all time
I haven't watched music videos for many years, but this one still remains fresh in my memory.

2. Favorite concept album
This was a tough choice, but the winner is

3. Favorite Victorian novelist
Okay, so maybe there's some stuff related to writing after all.

4. Favorite subway system
The oldest in the country

5. Favorite book read in 2013
In a nod to all the other lists I've read recently.

Catching up

If anyone is still reading this blog, besides Ukrainian bots (see pic), you have my undying gratitude. The last few months have not been conducive to blogging, or any form of writing. I'm beginning to reclaim my life, though, and have a few things planned for this space:

• Excerpts from Bombay Bhel
• Additional content that I'd planned to write as interludes for the stories but never quite made it into the book
• Trivia, contests, and giveaways
• Updates on work in progress: another potential collection of short fiction, or a novella series
• Blog interviews and guest posts, with a focus on Indian fiction
• And, of course, the usual musings on all things literary

Thanks for sticking around (unless you're a bot…)!

In transition

The search for a new house has taken the long and winding road, but we're finally able to see the signpost. If all goes well, we should be settled in Delaware by the end of June.

Meanwhile, Bombay Bhel is now available for the Nook and Kobo (to the joy, I'm hoping, of many Canadians). Still waiting on the iBookstore...

Of cabbages--and kings

From Wikimedia Commons: A scene from "The Walrus and the Carpenter", by Lewis Carroll, drawn by Sir John Tenniel in 1871.

I'm breaking my self-imposed vow of silence for a brief moment. The last couple of months have been insane, but resolution is near. We accepted an offer on our house in Wisconsin and are in the process of finalizing arrangements to purchase one in a small town in Delaware. If all goes well, in a couple of weeks I'll be driving across the country with the dog, to join the rest of the family already in Delaware.

Meanwhile, my book will be coming off Kindle Select tomorrow. This means that it's no longer exclusive to Amazon. When I get a chance in between packing, cleaning, and other preparations for moving, I'll make the e-book version available through other channels, including Kobo, iBooks, and Nook.

Once I get settled in Delaware, I hope to increase my involvement online (and do more writing!). I'll also need to build up the other side of my writing career--the one that pays the bills. Stay tuned.

Updates

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy. After the book release comes the "real" work: marketing and promoting it. However, I haven't had much time to devote to that task of late. The last promotional effort, a Goodreads giveaway of a signed paperback copy, will end on February 28. After that, I'll be able to tell if people just like entering giveaways or if they actually want to buy the book :)

Among other things, our household is gearing up for a move across the country. We've been working on minor house projects and also de-cluttering (the less stuff we have, the less there is to move). Meanwhile, I've been trying to build the business side of my writing career once again.

I still plan on finishing a short story that will serve as a "teaser" for the book, but it's dropped fairly low on my list of priorities. More to come in a couple of weeks.