This is my last blog post before my husband and I fly to Rome, where we’ll be staying from the end of April into May. So yes, my next blog post will be delayed, but hopefully I’ll have some nice stories to tell!

Things are getting all too real as I work on the nitty-gritty details, like figuring out what my poor cat is going to eat. He normally eats wet food, but we’ll need to transition him to at least some dry food, because his pet-sitters probably can’t leave wet food out for 24 hours between visits without spoilage becoming a concern. That means finding a dry food that isn’t complete garbage: quite a feat indeed! Cat food nutrition labels aren’t as stringent or informative as for humans. I have to research the hell out of foods and do a lot of math to figure out what calories my cat would be getting from what nutrients. On top of that, a huge number of manufacturers think it’s perfectly fine to load cats down with carbs. No, diabetes and obesity and kidney problems are not fine. Kindly figure this out before more cats die of preventable illness. Ugh.

Anyway! There was also the fun of buying tickets for the Colosseum. Did you know that tour groups swoop in and buy all of the English tour tickets before the public has a chance to get at them—and that they turn around and sell them to you for 5x the normal price? Screw that! We’re still going to the Colosseum at regular price, and we’re still going on the tour we want—in Spanish! LOL We both have some familiarity with the language, and learning Latin has made reading Spanish even easier for me. I don’t know so much about listening, but hey, I can do research on the history beforehand and just enjoy the sights while I’m there :)

Writing Updates

I’ve mostly been focused on just 1 chapter this month, but it’s been a doozy, so much so that it split into 2. It’s an important stop-and-breathe moment for a lot of characters, and I’ve had to restructure it a few times as it’s unfolded onto my screen. There’s about 70K words/16 chapters in Book 3’s first draft so far. Am I still on-target for delivering a finished draft into my editor’s hands by the end of the year? I hope so! LOL I have to say, I’m looking forward to giving my brain a rest, coming back refreshed and bursting with ideas (or so I hope)!

Also, for anyone who may be waiting for this, I’m in the process of making my books available on Google Play. For about 2 years, they weren’t accepting new signups. Just recently, I was able to apply for an invite and actually got one. Now the trick is tweaking my existing ebooks so that Google Books reads them properly. I’m encountering issues with centering that I’ll have to work around one way or another. It’ll probably take longer than I have time for at the moment, and may be something I resume work on when I get back from Rome.

Current Goals

Learning Latin. I’m about to have my first big Latin “test” when we head to Rome. I look forward to seeing how many inscriptions I can figure out! Somehow I doubt I’ll get any speaking practice, though. ;)

Refreshing German. Nothing new to report here. I think the listening practice really is as valuable as anything else one might do to brush up on a language. I’m going to eventually start up with Latin podcasts (they do exist)!

Not losing my mind amid trip preparations. The pre-trip jitters are coming down hard. I’m trying to be as prepared as possible. Positive reinforcement—remembering how I’ve traveled before successfully, and had a good time doing it—is also very helpful.

That’s all for this month! Arrivaderci! :)