Work (#paranormalhotel)! Work (writing horror)! Work (interviewing Hunter Shea)!

Thank God I love the kind of work I do, because – lately – there’s been plenty of  it!

Paranormal Hotel:

I’ve returned to working full-time at the #paranormalhotel – at least for the next few weeks. (A staff member has had a family emergency.) I’d always hoped I’d be able to go back part-time this summer, but I wasn’t expecting this. Because I recently trained Langston for the job, I was almost completely up to speed when I was called back, but there was some adjustment required.

Highlights:

• there’s new staff  & new linens
• we have a laundry room for guest use now
• rates have gone up
• the commercial dryer is dying (which makes doing the laundry even more time-consuming)

Otherwise, most everything is the same.

Camp NaNoWriMo:

When I found out I’d be going back to the hotel, I feared I’d fail to meet my Camp NaNoWriMo goals, so I took a deep breath and plunged in. I’m not at goal yet, but I’ve managed to get an awful lot done and I think I’ll make it. I haven’t been taking the time to properly track anything (or participate in the camp festivities) but I just did a quick tally of hours spent story mapping and drafted words and come up with 23,137. Tell me that’s still within reach!

Bugaboo Road

Hunter Shea’s book tour:

Just five minutes ago, I finished reading Hunter Shea’s new novella, The Waiting. This is a good thing, because – in about an hour – I’ll be settling in with him on Skype, to do the first official interview ever for The Paranormalist.

In a way, I’m glad I had to hustle up and get the reading done in one sitting, right before the interview. The details of the story will be fresh when I ask him all the questions I have roiling around in my brain. My plan is to have at least one segment of that interview packaged and available for viewing here tomorrow. Right now I can tell you it’s a fast, tight, eerie read which still manages to be emotionally affecting.

By the way, I want to thank you all for making the book giveaway I recently sponsored a great success. The winners have all been notified, and – as far as I know – the books are winging their way to their new owners.

Earlier this week, as we were arranging our interview time, I asked Hunter to decide what we’d be drinking tonight. Now, I have to run over to the liquor store to see if I can find any Captain Lawrence pale ale. As a cheap-American-beer-drinker, I’m glad he didn’t suggest Guinness.

Click here to get your copy. You still have time to read it before the interview series begins.