Because I'd been ill, the deadlines that needed to be wrapped up in March spilled over into April. And it took constant, sustained effort to keep those deadlines from spilling into the latter part of April. This is important because April was set aside to work on the next book(s), so that I'd be ahead, and not racing a deadline next time around.

Also, never assume (on writing OR art) that the editing process is done until it's been verified by, well, everyone. The cover (which editorial liked) was changed at the request of sales & marketing (to the benefit of all); the inside illos on this new book took only minor changes (to two pages) (thank God - on RED DRAGON there were a handful, with some hefty redrawing); and the text (as my writer colleagues can attest) goes through at least five rounds of editing. I'm actually doing one MORE pass on the page proofs.

The school visits are fun, thrilling, and exhausting - especially on those days when I get scheduled for FIVE hourlong presentations.

Then have a store appearance.

Then do some drop in stock signings.

While writing the next book; doing minor art fixes on the current book; and doing the aforementioned edit pass.

And on top of all of that, and personal obligations, and family obligations, and community obligations, and planning for the future, you might still have a bit of the pneumonia, and have to grapple with that while driving nine hours to attend a book festival all the while rolling all of the above around in your head and thinking that a few hours of non-work and a near-vegitative state might be the only thing keeping you from the brink of the galactically-bonkers abyss...

...and you show up at your hotel, and discover your publisher has put you up here.

And all you can think about, in between trying to decide if you're going to eat dinner in the master bedroom, the living room, the office, or the screening room (answer: tune all the screens to the same channel and wander room to room eating hot wings) is that you will go to any effort to do everything your publisher needs, because you know that they are doing everything they can to make you feel valued. And that's a scenario that is nothing but WIN.

More after the LA Times Bookfest.