It's now nearly two months since I had surgery to repair a torn tendon in the left shoulder/pec. The prognosis was pegged at 4 months recovery from the op, with the first month in a sling - so now I'm nearing the halfway stage. As is, the surgical wound has healed, the scar's fading, and I've got more mobility in the shoulder region. That said, there's still a way to go.
I can just about reach all the way up, but can't extend the arm backward yet, as if I were doing a reverse dive - not without undue tension in the side of the pec. So flexibility needs work. Not too surprisingly, I still have some soreness in the pec and shoulder, as a result of having a knife stuck in me and flesh pulled and stapled. A month in a sling where all the lifting was done by the right arm and right hand meant my left arm was smaller. A drop in reflexes and timing, especially if my gaming is anything to go by. I'm not the biggest gamer, but a half-hour of Tekken now and then helps take the edge off from the stress of the hustle.
The good news is that these are things I can work on that help redress the balance. Time back in the gym helps recover more of the physical and mental well-being. I'm not let loose on the likes of squats, bench, pullups and deadlifts yet, but there are things I can do in the meantime. And - thankfully - I'm now easing back into two-handed typing. Even as I type this, my copy typing is coming back to me. So there's that. Just as well; the last few months were sluggish. So here's where I can assess things.
I didn't make it out to Toronto this summer. A missed opportunity of time with friends, time at FanExpo, time with the compadres in the Ontario chapter of the HWA. And I do so love the pancake breakfasts out there; hitting the Sunset Grill downtown at 1 Richmond St W (off Yonge). I digress. Even though I didn't make it to FanExpo (and I missed the likes of Daredevil/Charlie Cox and Kingpin/Vincent D'Onofrio), what I may do is not only hit the Expo next year, but also take some books to sell and set up on a stall. For the uninitiated, this is FanExpo:
After all, if last year's FanExpo was anything to go by, footfall was some 130,000 people, if memory serves, over a 4-day weekend. A chance to sell, a chance to network, etc. Watch this space.
As I write this, I'm now on the home stretch of the new book. While it's at least a couple of months behind schedule in my eyes, it does mean that the execution is more meticulous. That, of course, is a good thing. Rather than trying to rush the book into production this year, it's more likely to drop next year. What's it about? Ah, that would be telling ...and I'm not doing that yet. What I can proudly say is that, thus far, it will have one of the most terrifying scenes I've ever written. I shit you not.
Next up will be a welcome respite - where I whore myself out to beta read for other authors. It might not sound like much of a break, but it does give me a chance to switch gears and keep my game tight in the process. This I'll do for up to another month before I get back to the next book. There's other stuff coming - beyond my anthology releases over the next couple of months - but I don't want to give too much away yet.
Reviewing my workstack and my body of work reminds me that I don't have anywhere near enough work out there yet - recent work in particular. If I'm honest, I'm not doing enough to promote it. In short, my game still needs work. The good thing is that now, getting back to normalcy, it's next on the agenda.