Sunday, May 8, 2011

Lots Of Things Happening (But All With My Mother)



When last I left you, I was waiting for an ARC (or ideally ARCs) of Blood Wounds from my publisher, word from my editor about whether they were interested in a fourth moon book, and acknowledgement from my agent that I'd sent her my manuscript The Offering.

Oddly enough, I haven't received or heard a thing since. Well, I got my phone bill and my car insurance bill, but neither came from my publisher, my editor, or my agent.

I certainly had other things to keep me busy though. My incredibly cute 99 year old mother is trying life at the enriched housing section of her retirement complex. For the past fifteen or so years she's had an apartment there, but my brother and our friend Marci and I all think she needs more services than she's getting. So I've spent much of the past week packing her things and buying her what she'll need and moving her into the enriched housing (which is one floor down from where she'd been living). If my mother likes it, she'll stay. If not, she'll move back to her apartment.

All moves are difficult, although this one had the great advantage of help from the maintenance staff, who did all the heavy lifting (and hung the pictures). But I had decided my mother should have familiar things with her whether she stayed or not, and that meant packing and unpacking the bookcase, which holds my father's books, my brother's books, my books, and any books my mother might feel like reading someday.



My father wrote fewer books than me, but his (and my brother's) weigh more than mine. So do the large print books, which are really heavy.

Still, having lifted and packed and lifted and unpacked, I have to give very serious consideration to the possibility I've written way too many books.

I wonder if my publisher and my editor and my agent think the same thing!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Never! It's pure heaven to be strolling through the used bookstore in town and see another book by an amazing author! Keep writing more if you want to, because I'm going to run out one day!

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hi Anonymous-

I think the only person who's read every book I wrote is my mother, and I'm not 100% sure she's read my most recent ones.

I know I haven't read them all. Actually, I probably haven't read most of them, except to do editing.

On the other hand, my word verification is "writylif" which most likely means "writing for life" in some poetic not quite human language way!

Wanda Vaughn said...

Wow! You guys are very prolific in a wordy sort of way. I say, "Keep on typing!" for purely selfish reasons, of course. I want to keep on reading.

I hope your mom settles in nicely. She doesn't look a day over 95!

word verification: lingsol
which, of course, means brightly shining language or words.

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hi Wanda Vaughn-

Pfeffers are by nature verbose. We love to talk and to write and to argue.

It's amazing my mother has survived as long as she has when surrounded by such creatures!

Bridget Higdon said...

You can never right too many books!

"The more the merrier" is what they say!

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hi tigerlily*-

They don't say "The more the merrier" when they're dusting, packing and unpacking books.

At least I didn't!