The calm before the storm

I sit here channeling all my energy on positive thoughts as we await Hurricane Ida to arrive in New Orleans. My view is of the gas lamp outside of our house. It burns cheerily and strong, no wind of water affecting its brightness.

We’ve been here for a little more than a month, and already we get to experience mother nature’s way of resetting herself. My family and I have weathered storms in Florida, so the preparation period is not new. Still, I must confess that not knowing the area, what floods, power outage expectations, and more make me a little anxious.

When I’m anxious, I need an outlet, so as I wait for my editor to return her developmental notes, I set up all my vendor accounts! Now I am the official owner of vendor accounts in all your favorite book retailers! I’ll hopefully also be in your local indie bookstore! This is one step closer to publishing, and it has me excited. So it seems fitting that I titled this post, the calm before the storm. It is the calm before water and wind come, but it's also the calm before I go full force into editing, polishing, sending to beta readers (stay tuned and join my newsletter!), and more.

It is the calm before we immerse ourselves fully into life in a new city, and what a better way to become New Orleanians than weathering the storm? I hope all those in the path of the storm are safe, have found shelter, and evacuated safely if they are in areas of flooding. See you on the other side of Ida.