Bad blogger, no cookie!
I think I get a tiny pass because we’ve just gotten three more amazing books out the door over at Cooperative Press: Stitching in the Stacks, Big Foot Knits and Unique Feet. Oh, and issue three of Knit Edge (issue four comes out in September — use code AUG2013 for a discount if you haven’t subscribed yet).
And TNNA.
And I taught on a boat. (Carl from Bijou Basin Ranch is not going to forgive me for a while on that one, he said he’d carry my bags next time, he wants to go so much).
And Stitches Midwest.
And and and…
AND: this will come as no surprise to someone who knows me well. Me. Books. I like them…a lot. I’ve always wanted to expand and do more/different stuff but it’s been a challenge keeping up with the whirlwind as it is. Then something happens and you say I don’t care if I never have a personal life again, I have to do X. And in this case, X is publish more books. This time: fiction. So we’ve established a separate CP division for trade paperbacks. Fiction, you name it.
Shortly, we’ll be announcing another novel we’ll be publishing at the end of the year. This book kicked my ass, if you will pardon my French. I am not much of a novel reader, admittedly. My last “favorite novel” dates back to the early 90s. (Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, if you’re keeping score). But this? I started reading and I could not put it down. Assistant CP editor and generally kickass human being MK Carroll, who was in Ohio last week for a few days in the office + a friend’s wedding, actually took the (600-page) manuscript to bed with her each night and threatened to steal it if she wasn’t done by the time she left. (She was. She lost a lot of sleep to it, but she was).
This book is SO GOOD. I am jumping up and down like a crazy person because I can’t spill the details yet until the contract is signed. But trust me: you are going to love it. Even if you read the description and think “ok, no…weird and not my thing…” YOU ARE WRONG. It is so good. I haven’t been this excited about anything in a very long time. This book gave me my mojo back. This book is just stellar. And I could probably talk about it all day but I won’t tease you any more.
Stitches Midwest was great. There were some painful bits — my elderly dachshund came down with a terrible UTI while I was gone and my mom rushed her to the vet. She’s on painkillers and strong antibiotics now, and seems to be recovering well, but of course it’s almost as painful to watch her having a hard time as it would be to go through it yourself. I ended up hiding behind the curtain on the show floor and bawling my eyes out. Then, on the way to the bathroom to wash my face I ran into my dear friend Lisa from Roman Hills and proceeded to both cry and get snot all over her. I am CLASSY like that. A word of advice: be friends with people who have toddlers. Snot does not faze them one bit. Later, we went and had a lot of margaritas with jalapenos in them. It seemed like the correct thing to do, given the day we’d had.
Seeing Andi talking to people who loved her book (Big Foot Knits) was SO joyous for me. Due to a list of things happening that frankly you would not even believe if I told you, that book got delayed again and again. And I’m not talking “oh, small thing.” I’m talking multiple hospitalizations and more. It is so good. She is so good. She has been an instrumental part in getting both me and CP to where we are now and I do not know what I would do without her. I probably talk to her on the phone more than I talk to my own mother — and mom and I talk A LOT. It makes my heart sing to see her book getting the recognition it deserves.
On a slightly different tip — my non-knitting friends continue to feed my heart with their love. Man. You have no idea. Sometimes I just get the sweetest messages from out of nowhere, right when I really need them. It’s like THEY KNOW. I could squeeze all their faces a million times over.
Finally (for now): I bought a new sewing machine to replace my decrepit old ones and went on a QUILT FRENZY. I’ve done like, four, in the past month. It is ridiculous.
I sew like a maniac. They’re not perfect. I’m learning more with each one. But they’re mine and I have been rather happily cuddled under them almost every night so who cares about perfect? They’re good. Life is good. And now I have to go pack about eight zillion orders that are waiting, which is also fine. I hope your day is equally great.