Holy Catch-Up, Batman!

Well, I'm back!

This calls for an AC/DC song, doesn't it?

In any case, the Kung Fu workshop was fantastic. There are so many thank-you's I have to extend here it's not funny. If you don't particularly want to read them, then skip ahead a couple of paragraphs.

First of all, a massive thank-you to Sifu Jason Tsou for taking the time to come up from L.A. and train us. There is a wealth of knowledge that he continually and repeatedly shares openly. There are some instructors who jealously guard their knowledge. Sifu Tsou is not one.

Thank-you to my own Sifu, John Hum, for organising the trip - again.

A giant thank-you also to my Kung Fu brother K.C. for organising the room, to my roommates K.C., A.H. and P.B. for being awesome roommates. Seriously, thanks! Another giant thank-you to R.C. for the drive up and back.

To all my Kung Fu brothers and sisters, thank-you for making this a fun, informative and relaxing trip. You all rock the Casbah.

I left early Friday and came home late Sunday. I took Monday off to, uh, recover because, let's face it, Wutan Canada is a bit of a party crowd (though I remained tame). It's a good thing I did, as Monday morning I woke with a killer sore throat. I still have said killer sore throat, but I'm back at work anyway.

Answering the phone is interesting...

Of course, the problem with taking time off is that nothing gets done. With no work getting done whatsoever, one tends to fall behind. And so I have. I'm more than 10 000 words behind target right now, and with all the catching up I have to do, there's no way I'm going to be able to write at all today.

Grr.

On the subject of writing, part 8 of the serialisation of The Dying God went up yesterday (I made damned sure I wasn't late with that!). You can read it HERE.

If this is the very first you've ever heard of my serial, you can do all the catch up reading by following the links I've posted HERE.

While I'm on the subject of The Dying God, I am super pleased to announce that I'm in the process of creating a paperback version - with the illustrations! I received the proof yesterday from Creatspace.com. It all looks good, except for a few errors that surprised the hell out of me. I can't tell you the number of times I've edited and re-edited this manuscript!

I'm in the process of reviewing said proof, then fixing the errors, then fighting with the computer - again - to turn the revised manuscript into a .pdf, to order another proof, to review again to ensure that it's as good as it can be before I approve for publication.

That was my big secret.

I kept it a secret because, well, I wasn't sure it would work out, and I was dubious about my technical ability (trust me, computers and I are not friends), and I was dubious about the quality of the finished product (a doubt that has been adequately assuaged now that I have the proof in hand).

So, reviewing The Dying God & Other Stories is what I will be doing for the remainder of the day. Then I have to somehow catch up on the word count of Puppet Master. Perhaps I'll be all caught up in a fortnight?

Wishful thinking, me thinks!

Wish me luck!

Oh, and before I forget - today's Forgotten English:

Fern-Tickles

Freckles on the skin resembling the seeds of the fern, freckled with fern, quite like small ticks... Ferns are frequently the receptacle of ticks, of which tickles may be considered a diminutive.

- William Carr's Dialect of Craven, 1828.

These are popularly accounted for as the marks made by the spurting of milk from the mother's breast, inevitably occasioned, so that a face may be marred that is "over bonny."

- C. Clough Robinson's Glossary of Mid-Yorkshire, 1876.