Monday, July 20, 2009

WHY WE WEREN'T READING MANUSCRIPTS THIS WEEKEND


This must be my summer for personal revelations. But when business and personal life intersect as often as ours do, ya' gotta be candid. Our workload is mounting and because of Jon's continual absences, we are getting further and further behind. We love that fact that we are a "two-man" shop, but, at times like this it would be helpful to have a staff we could rely on. But that's not in the plan at this stage. Perhaps in the future?

Jon's dad in Chicago is 97 years old, and failing. He's led a full and rich life and has not slowed much until recent months. Now he's having trouble walking and eating and the only thing that makes him feel better is having his son at his side. Problem is his son lives 700 miles away. Jon just returned on Tuesday after a full week there and his dad called again a few days ago. He needs him again. So, Jon will pack up partials and manuscripts and head back to Illinois in a few days. The experience of dealing with his mom and dad saps his energy and emotions and at the end of the day he doesn't seem to get much work done.

To complicate matters we had committed to "entertain" our grandsons Max (age almost-2) and Rob (age 4) for the past four days so their parents could attend the Woodstock-like outdoor concert in Albany, NY that featured the Disco Biscuits and others. Did we work during those 4 days? Please!!

I vow to read like crazy this week in an effort to bring down the piles. Just wanted to let y'all know what was shaking here on Cricklewood Cove.

4 comments:

Jose Mojica said...

Sorry to hear about Jon's father. I think these candid updates are great. Thanks.

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

Kae, Sorry to hear about Jon's dad. I'm sending healing thoughts and prayers your way. Thanks for sharing your "other" side - glad you got time to spend time with your adorable grandsons.

ms said...

What does any of the other stuff really matter? Many writings will probably exist longer than the people in our lives will. We can always go back to the writings at a later date, but we can't always go back to the people at a later date.

I hope your Jon spends as much time with his father as he can. Maybe he could stay there longer and move to doing more work electronically somehow?

And can't you just turn off the spigot a bit by telling people not to send anymore right now? In my opinion for what it's worth, most writers should be regularly working on WRITING, not sending. Today there's waaaay too much emphasis on querying and not enough on crafting. This is not good for "the state of literature."

Best wishes to you and your family,

F

H. L. Dyer said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your father-in-law, Kae.

But if it helps any, I think your grandsons are adorable (and that's my professional opinion. ;) )