Shenanigans of the Ishness Variety

What where the doings and happenings in the merry month of May? Let's find out, shall we?Writing and Authorly PursuitsI finished the first round of edits on Minstrel's Call!!!!!!!!!!!!Can I just stop for a minute? Because this is huge. This is... the end of an era... really. I know there's still work to be done - as I will inevitably get comments about things to change in the next round of edits... but still. The "getting to beta-readers" stage is such a milestone for this little series that's been 15 years in the writing/editing/polishing/publishing... and we are one step closer to the series being "complete," which is just so exciting for me. And a little heart-wrenching. This story has been a huge central focus of my life for some time  now, and it feels weird to be almost ready to present it as a complete set to the world and have to move on to something new. I kind of feel a little like Inigo Montoya after he defeats Count Rugen.I had a little leftover time, so I did a few additional rounds of editing to comb through the document for overused words and some other issues. I also got the book formatted into the proper page size and font and things like that and then sent it off to my next editor and my marvelous and courageous beta readers. The story now clocks in at 192,000-ish words, so I am quite happy at having trimmed a grand total of approximately 23,000 words from the story - hopefully the new sets of eyes on it can tell me where else there are places I can cut it down a bit. But a lot happens in the book, too... so, we shall see.Other exciting, "blow my mind" type news is that I also received a somewhat shocking email from Nerd and Tie informing me that my application to be a vendor at the Nerd and Tie Expo in September had been accepted! I thought surely I was too small a fish to be accepted... but I guess they liked what they saw of my application. So, I'm going to my first comic-con! So so so exciting! If anyone has been a vendor at an expo or comic-con (or anywhere) before, any and all tips are most welcome.WatchingMostly we continued watching through the special features at the end of the Hobbit extended edition trilogy.We also watched Wall-E (which I hated. I mean HATED the first time I saw it... but watching it with my kids, it wasn't as bad as I'd remembered... and actually kinda cute)We watched Minions (blergh, don't recommend)We saw The Finest Hours (intense! and awesome, highly recommend!)And Captain America: Civil War (lots of things... all the different thoughts things I liked/didn't like... but HAWKEYE, so the thoughts don't really matter... because HAWKEYE) (hehe, more decipherable review to come)ReadingNot doing so hot on the beta-reading I promised to do in May (this is what happens when I get consumed by an editing project that I'm SO CLOSE to finishing... but don't hit my deadline). Returning to it now, I promise, Abbey!Read The Eyre Affair and am about to finish Lost in a Good Book - both by Jasper Fforde and part of his Thursday Next series. These are re-reads, and I needed a good old favorite that's hilarious with all the intense writing stuff that was going on! I got out a couple of Diana Wynne Jones books from the library that I'm excited about, too.In the StormcaveMy sister, Brittany Jean, got accepted into the Bates Ford Talent Search down in Nashville at the end of May. She and my dad drove (yes, you read that right... yes, they live in central WA) DROVE down to Nashville where she performed "The Dance" by Garth Brooks in a nationally-broadcast radio show (AM 650) and competed against 20 other singers. She made it to the finalists' list of 12 singers and will have to return in mid-June to perform again, this time one cover song and one of her own. We are so proud of her! Prayers for health and safe travels would be greatly appreciated. The winners of the next round will get the chance to open for either THE OAKRIDGE BOYS!!! or DARRYL WORLEY!!! How cool is that?Life-ingNot tons to report here. Still wandering around searching for a home church... though maybe we think we might have decided on a place to go for the time being... that could perhaps be "home." (hehe, could a sentence be more vague?) Derek and I had a long conversation about it the other night (around 1am... which is usually not a good time to have serious conversations... but it was really good and we discovered we were more on the same page than we thought we were... so yay!) I went there with the girls this past Sunday and just had the best time at church I've had... in a really long time.We've been through the gauntlet of colds and coughs this spring... hoping some warmer weather will put an end to that nonsense.The weather here is GORGEOUS! I love it so much! I love that it's in the 60s-70s and breezy and that there's no humidity and it's JUNE! And the area... I loved it in the fall and winter, but now that spring has arrived everything is so green and beautiful!June PlansRight now my plans are to enjoy summer vacation with my family. We've got some people coming to visit over the next couple of months, so that will be fun. The girls are attending VBS. Summer Bible study starts up soon. And Derek and I are starting to look for that perfect piece of land to build a house on, so that's exciting!I also have a couple of new writing projects underway, one for the blog, and the other is with regards to my next series of books... I'll talk more about that later.The Silmarillion Awards, of course!And whatever other things come my way... hoping to go to the Renaissance Fair a few hours away from here this summer, and visit Chicago to see extended family sometime, and a couple of other shorter trips... but nothing is set in stone yet.Also, don't forget about the READ TO WIN challenge over at Homeschooled Authors - all the books that are part of the challenge will be 99 cents all summer long - and of course, there's the $100 Amazon Gift Card you could win by reading and leaving new reviews of any of the books in the challenge. Also, there's a weekly question for you to participate in. This week's question is: What fiction book most impacted your life? See our answers and comment or blog about your own answer! See you there! So that's how my May went... in a blur of crazy activity and exciting things on the horizon!How was your May? What are your Summer plans?