…are gonna be nuts. This upcoming week is my last week to get things straightened here in Boone. I should get a normal amount of writing done. As you can see over there on the left, I’m well over halfway done with I, ZOMBIE. It is as unreadable as ever. I feel sorry for any poor sap who downloads this looking for any sort of literary enjoyment.

Next Tuesday, I’m flying to New York to meet with a Random House marketing director from the UK. We’re gonna sit down and look at one of those world map jobbies with all the little figurines and sort out the proper route to world domination. Or eat fish tacos and grab a beer, I’m not sure which.

I also have a date with a major publisher, who is trying to woo me over to their side of the fence. Should be interesting to hear what they have to say. It’ll give me a chance to catch up with my agent extraordinaire, Kristin Nelson, who is in NY for a month. Flying up on someone else’s dime and knocking out several meetings in one trip is very comforting. Having this pop up the week before I move to another state is something else.

When I land back in Charlotte, it won’t be to come to Boone. Nope. My crazy schedule continues. I land at midnight on Thursday. ConCarolinas starts the very next day. So, a night at my dad’s old farm, and then up to Charlotte to attend some panels, film screenings, nighttime gatherings, and all the awesomeness of an SF convention for three days. If you’re in the area, come join us.

That ends on Sunday. At 7:00 AM on Monday, we pick up our U-Haul truck. The rest of the day is spent packing and cleaning. On Tuesday, we hit the road at 5:00 AM and get to our new house in Jupiter. We’ll arrive around 6:00 or 7:00 that night, move a handful of things in, pass out from exhaustion, and wake up in a new state the next day. Unpack, unpack, unpack, return the truck, maybe paint some walls.

We’ll have two weeks to make repairs and get the house sorted before our trip to the Bahamas to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. I hope to be truly out of contact for this week, but I doubt that’s likely. Hopefully our house in Boone will have closed on June 8th, and I’ll be able to vacation without any stress.

On July 9th, I head up to Charlotte for our annual family reunion at Pleasant Grove Campground. The UK e-book will have been out for a month at this point. I, ZOMBIE should be out as well. I’ll be writing SECOND SHIFT: ORDER at this time, aiming for an early September release.

Speaking of early September, that’s right about time for ChiCon7, which I’ll be attending. And the Miami Book Fair is in November. The pre-launch hype machine will be cranked up for the UK release of the Wool hardback at this point. January should see the release of that book, plus the final SHIFT entry. So, to start 2013, I’ll be back to Wool 9, writing about Juliette and Solo, and torturing you all with snippets here and there.

Damn. That’s not the next few weeks; that’s the rest of my year! And it ignores a likely trip to Hollywood to discuss a possible screenplay. Well, here’s hoping the second half of 2012 is as awesome as the first half has been. Mega-thanks to each and every one of you for turning my life upside down and shaking me by the ankles. It’s been the most awesome several months of my existence (ignoring the time I spent on Isla de Providencia, marooned in paradise).