The last few weeks have been a bit rough. We lost a dear family pet, and taking care of and keeping watch over him occupied most of my spare hours, as well as my emotions. Then, when it was finally over, I was exhausted mentally, emotionally, and physically. But in keeping with the pattern of life being either incredibly eventful or intensely boring, with no in-between, last Wednesday my publisher posted this on Twitter: And I was like, Whut? Then two days later I was holding