Friday, May 7, 2010

Things Come Things Go (Or So I'm Told)

Those of you with eagle eyes and nothing better to do may have noticed the bookplate sampler is gone from the right side of the blog.

That's because the bookplates are gone.

I'm completely out of the lovely blue ones, and down to not very many of the greens and burgundies. I do still have a few of the black and silver ones, left over from the last bookplate extravaganza, but I'm sure all remaining plates will eventually find homes.

So rather than break people's hearts (Oh, how I yearned for a blue bookplate), I've made the offer vanish.

I recently got an email from a teacher asking if there was a teacher's guide for the dead & the gone, so I asked the kind folk at Harcourt about it. The kind folk were kind enough to respond that yes, indeed, there was one in the works, and I should be getting it fairly soon.

When fairly soon arrives, I'll let you know.

Meanwhile, I'm going through Blood Wounds withdrawal. It's been part of my life since last summer. First I came up with the idea, and developed it. Then I wrote 100 pages. That was followed by a fair amount of waiting to hear, which always burns up energy (if not calories). Next came trying to remember what the book was about, followed by the Winter Olympics (which probably didn't have much to do with Blood Wounds, but I feel I should be honest about such things). Then came writing again, followed by dumping the last 70 or so pages, then rewriting the last 70 or so pages, and then rewriting and rewriting and rewriting again. Yesterday morning I did the final rewrites, and sent the whole thing off, so now I'm back to waiting to hear. Once I do, there'll be rewrites with an editor's guidance to keep me busy, and then copy editing and galleys and the excitement of a new book.

But now I just feel that empty spot. I frequently go into a mini-depression when I finish a book, and just as frequently, I'm taken by surprise by it. This one might be a little more complicated, since I have no idea what the next step in my life is. I keep telling my friends I'm retired, and my friends keep mocking me. But maybe I am retired. Maybe Blood Wounds will be my last book. I don't know.

What I do know is I have to buy groceries and have lunch with my mother and make sure she takes her antibiotic exactly 1/2 hour before she gets her teeth cleaned. And then, because the dentist's office is very close to the cemetery where my father is buried, and because it's an absolutely beautiful day, we'll stop by there before I take her home.

Tomorrow the great spring cleaning adventure begins. What can I throw out this time?

Ooh. The very thought of discarding past treasures cheers me right up. Life is full of promise after all!

11 comments:

Elaine Marie Alphin said...

I know that sense of withdrawal so well... You live in the world of the book and your characters may well seem more real than your friends (who, by the way, are not all mocking you for your desire to retire - skepticism is not mocking) and then the book, the characters, the world are all gone and you're blinking back to the day-to-day world with a hole in your heart. It will get smaller, but right now all you can do is fill the emptiness with groceries and spring cleaning and the people you love.

Anonymous said...

Oooo, I hope you do write more books! If it is supposed to be, it will be. Letting the creative muscle have a rest is good. And that sense of possibility, like anything can happen, is great. Enjoy.

Speaking of Spring cleaning, have you ever seen this: http://unclutterer.com/ Sometimes I find good tips there on getting rid of stuff. I tend to collect clutter and I am slowly getting rid of things that don't really contribute to the life I want.

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Happy Friday afternoon Elaine Marie Alphin and Anonymous-

Well, my mother has a cavity (given how much she loves sweets, this isn't all that surprising), so it's back to the dentist we go on Tuesday.

As she cheerfully put it, "I'm so much of a nuisance to you anyway, what's one more thing."

On a non-mother note, I added a link on the beloved right side of the blog. You can now hear me teach you how to pronounce Pfeffer.

Oh, and Elaine- trust me. My friends mock!

life as we knewn it! said...

hi i think i seen something about u making a movie about life as we knewn and if u haven't picked the person to play the part or should i say be Miranda i would love to i read the book over and over and over the first time i heard about the next day i got it! so really if u think i could do it i will

life as we knewn it! said...

i think i seen something about you making a movie on life as we knewn it and if u still havent found someone to play i part i would love too if u would like! i read the book over and over i cant put it down when i pick it up!!

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hello life as we knewn it!

As of the moment, there are no plans for a movie.

But should there ever be, I'm sure you'll have as good a chance of playing Miranda as anyone else!

life as we knewn it! said...

thats wonderful! lol becaues as soon as i seen this site i had to write lol

Anonymous said...

Are you going to get more book plates in? I am wondering because I forgot to email you about them.
Crystal

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hi Crystal-

I'm not planning on ordering any new ones. They come in rolls of 500 and that seems like too much of a commitment to me right now.

But I do still have some of the green and burgundy ones and a few silver LAWKI ones, so email me if you're interested.

Anonymous said...

hey susan,

first i just wanted to say i LOVED your first three books, and yesterday while doing some grocery shopping i actually went through the canned isle goods to see what i would buy if there was ever an apocolypse! lol
but the thing i really want to know is what is "Blood Wounds" about? I googled it but i couldnt find any synopsis!
-Lilly

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hi Lilly and thanks for your comment-

I haven't been telling people what Blood Wounds is about, so as of the moment, hardly anyone knows, and those who do aren't tellling Google!