Not Always Merry-hearted

I use the screen name merryheart or merryhearted on a lot of web sites. It is for a specific reason. It describes me. When I was writing for a careers web site I came to the conclusion that the two best qualifications one can bring to an interview are confidence and cheerfulness. This is particularly true, I think, for people with disabilities, for whom the careers site was intended. And whether modern science has to be thanked for it or not, both are pretty typical traits of mine.. particularly cheerfulness.

Today I am dragging my emotional ass, however. I have a good reason. My darling kitty cat, Mr. Hata, has to have major surgery on his.. well.. his thing. I love that cat to distraction. I just can't stand to think he is in pain or even discomfort.

I have reason to feel good today, in spite of that, as I have another gratifying review, this one on Writer's Daily Grind. The author is Anne Gilbert, a woman who knows her Anglo Saxon England, so it is particularly satisfying to read her praise of my research. She also picked up on the origin story.. my friend's and my development of these characters as kids... which not everyone seems to quite get.

And I have gotten both useful and complimentary reads on my alter ego, Nicol Harrity's manuscript, Random Acts. Tomorrow I plan to query about a call for submissions for novellas involving gay people in the military and a story I would like to write for them.

Spent a little time on Facebook this morning and found some old friends.. what a wonder that is!

I may have to stop doing book trailers.. I wake up in the night and can't go to sleep because it is so fun to script the things.. I just lie therre worrying about where I will find pictures I can use. The next one for my novel will be "One woman.. Three men.. All three want to protect her.. One wants to keep her.. and One will do anything he can to get her." Now if I could just draw...

Tomorrow evening is the March Let's Read Historical Novels meeting. Y'all come! We read Celia Hayes' Adelsverein The Gathering for this one, and it is such a good book that the already fun online get-together should be even more fun. I am already reading April's book, Michael Curtis Ford's The Ten Thousand.

Come to think of it, the narrator on that book is so dout and everybody just got killed in the book so maybe that's another reason to be down.

Sigh.