I got sick, and it was the most fun I've had in ages
For real
Hi, I’m Amber Eve — author of smalltown romantic comedies, and my long-running blog, Forever Amber. If you’d like to know more about me, start here. If you’d like to hear more from me, meanwhile, hit the button below…
On Sunday morning I woke up with a throat like sandpaper, a streaming nose, and the distinct feeling that I was, as my mum says, ‘coming down with something’.
“It’s okay,” I told Terry, when he made the appropriate noises of concern at this news (motivated mostly by the fact that I’d said I was going to spend the day working on the final edits to my book, and now I wouldn’t be able to…). “If I’m going to be ill, today’s the best day for it to happen.”
This was true. That Sunday was the first one in weeks where we didn’t have some kind of social commitment or other, and it was to also be the last one in weeks where that would be the case. Not only that, but, with over two weeks to go until release, the book was almost done, so there was no great pressure for me to be glued to my desk all day.
Honestly, if I had tried to sit down and find a date to pencil ‘be ill’ into my diary, that Sunday would’ve been the day I’d have have chosen. It was the perfect day to be sick; and, fortunately for me, my ‘sickness’ was the kind where you don’t really feel well enough to do much, but you’re not so ill that you can’t concentrate on the book you’re reading; so, instead of editing my own book, I got to spend the day lying around reading other people’s, getting up only to free Max and his friends from the garden occassionally1 or fetch myself another snack.
Honestly, it was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was the first time I’ve spent a day just reading and relaxing since … well, since the last time I was sick, actually. Which… I mean, is kind of sad, really, isn’t it? Like, the fact that I have to get sick just to be able to read my book in peace for a few hours is sad.
This is how life is now, though; and not just for me, but for pretty much everybody I know. Everyone is busy. Everyone is stressed. I used to describe December as ‘cluttered’ because of all of the commitments it brings, but now every month is ‘cluttered’. Every weekend is booked up — sometimes months in advance. We already have plans for this December. We know how we’ll be spending New Year’s Eve. I feel like I’ve been using the phrase, “Once things calm down a bit…” since Christmas, but it took me getting sick last weekend to realise that it isn’t going to happen, is it? Things are apparently never going to calm down: which is honestly disappointing, because, a) I’m exhausted, and, b) when I imagined writing books for a living, I never really imagined having to be literally dying2 just to get a few hours to myself, or feeling like I was playing Tetris every time I tried to fit yet another appointment into my calendar.
But such is life: especially, it seems, when you’re the sole introvert in a house of extroverts, and the only person whose solution to every problem doesn’t involve hosting a huge party.
GAH.
But anyway.
My illness, whatever it was, took a few days to clear up, which means I’ve been much less productive this week than I’d hoped to be. The good news, however, is that BIKINI has been through its final edits, and is almost ready to go. Here it is all printed out, ready for that last proofread, and with my spooky disembodied head in the background:
Exciting! And also scary, because, OMG, what if you all hate it?
Speaking of Bikini, the ebook version is available to pre-order here. I’ve had a few people ask about paperback, and, yes, the book will also be available in paperback: I’m hoping to get paperback pre-orders up within the next few days, but I’m kind of at the mercy of the ‘Zon with that one, so I’ll let you all know when it’s available! In the meantime, though, lovely
is giving away a free copy of BIKINI, along with four other amazing books (plus a gorgeous pair of earrings) as part of her launch week giveaway, so please take a look at her post, for instructions on how to take part!
Until next week,
The gate keeps sticking — we don’t have them trapped there. Well, not normally.
Not literally
Thanks for the mention, Amber!
I have two small children—who, to be fair, get sick far less often than average, but still— and getting sick used to bum me out so much.
Then I created the mantra: Sick Days Are Reading Days, and whenever I feel that sandpapery throat, I become almost giddy.
Fun fact: In Spanish, when we feel we're coming down with something, we say "estoy incubando algo," which literally means "I'm incubating something," like a chicken sitting patiently on its viruses.
I recently realized that the only books I read last year, I read while sick. It feels so luxurious to stay home from work while the kids are at daycare even if I’m dying lol.