Weekly Update: July 8 to 14

For this week, my word count is zero since I’ve been taking a much needed break.

On Friday, I drove down to Toronto and spent the weekend at Ad Astra.  It was a lovely time and I met many wonderful people but I’ve been looking at my costs and unfortunately, it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to do the conference as a vendor next year.  I’m a little sad about that, but it doesn’t stop me from going as an attendee and still getting to enjoy the social aspect.

While I was at Ad Astra, I got a message from my husband letting me know that my son had burned himself on a motorcycle exhaust pipe.  (It was an accident, one of those things that happened before anyone could have reacted.)  Since Sunday evening, we’ve spent a great deal of time at various doctors, dealing with concerns about infection and talking about treatment options (due to the location and size, it may need surgery for a skin graft but we won’t know that for another week or two).

It’s been a very difficult forty-eight hours as I try to balance everything and still get ready for RWA in Denver.  I considered staying behind but in the end, decided to go.  My husband and parents are already stepping in to make sure that all of the doctors’ instructions are being followed and there would be nothing I could do if I stayed at home which is not already being done.  Obviously, I’m worried about him and I’ll be checking in more frequently, but I’m still going.

I’m sure not everyone would do the same and there will probably be those who disagree or think I’m a bad mother for continuing with my trip.  I could begin to justify why this trip is important, but in the end, that wasn’t the main criteria.  It was: does my son need me to be there?  And the answer to that is no.  Because he is surrounded by competent people who love him just as much as I do.

So although it hasn’t been easy, I’m on my way to Denver and I’m going to meet up with friends I’ve only ever interacted with online, I’m going to meet authors whose works I admire (and probably acquire a bunch more titles for my TBR pile), I’m going to give away copies of my book at the Indie Book Signing on Friday, and I’m going to pitch the heck out of Deadly Potential.  And then I will get back on a plane, fly home to Ottawa, and get ready for the next round of doctor’s check-ups and plans.