August Bits of This and That

I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I am still here. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of proposal writing and submitting, manuscript tightening, WIP writing, posting to the ACFW conference blog, and an allergic reaction that I never want to go through again!

Not allergic to busyness. But allergic to either my laundry soap or fabric softener. I don't want to know which one so I switched both to hypo-allergenic products. The kind that come in the white bottles.

In the flurry of proposal writing and sending last week, I broke out in a very itchy rash about an hour after I had put on newly washed clothing. By that time I was walking through Wal-Mart and could not scratch politely. Needless to say, it cut my shopping trip short and I made a beeline for home. By the time I arrived there I had a rash and hives wherever my clothing was touching me.

After two days of misery, thinking it would die down on it's own, I went to the doctor and got a cortisone shot, followed by a week's supply of Prednisone. Now you know it's bad when I agree to take Prednisone. My mom was on megadoses of that steroid a long time ago for the effects of emphysema and the side effects were awful. But when you're itching all over like I was, you'll try anything! At least my blood pressure was still good. That surprised me!

Now, five or six days later all is well. I take my last Prednisone tomorrow and I trust with everything washed and rewashed I will not go through that again.

But don't be surprised if my heroine ends up with something similar some day!

Meanwhile, keep an eye on this blog. In the days and weeks to come I'll be doing some giveaways like Julie Lessman's sequel to A Passion Most Pure and Christy Barrit's Suspicious Minds. That book is a hoot. So if you like mysteries and good humor, keep an eye out for that one in a few days.

And if you're in the Minneapolis area, be sure to mark your calendars for the ACFW Mega Book Signing at the Mall of America on September 20th from 1 to 3 in the Rotunda.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program!