Hello all my lovelies! I am remiss on the blog once again. It’s a common theme, but I’m trying for 3 posts per month. This month it’s two. Well, I still have a week for a third post, right? It could happen. And I have many things I’d like to say, but these are the quick updates.

I have some news regarding A Ragged Magic, and what’s going on, publishing-wise. Since I’m changing publishers, or rather, my original publisher (Per Aspera) became part of another publisher (Ragnarok) and Ragnarok is going to reissue ARM, that means that the book will be unavailable for purchase from retailers starting July 1^st. If you want to buy the book and you haven’t yet, you’ll have to contact me here (Lindsey@lindseysjohnson.com) to set that up, or wait for the reissue, which will most likely be sometime in November. When I know the exact date I will be sure to let you know. SO … if you want a permanent and beautiful piece of THIS AWESOME ARTWORK:

Be sure to order ASAP and get yourself a copy now at your favorite retailer. Because once that is off the market, and I am out of books, that truly lovely cover by Angie Abler will be a collector’s item. I do love that cover, but I am fairly certain that new artwork will be ordered for the new issue, to go with new marketing, to go with the new publisher. Which is all in service to new, shiny books, that will be ready for your reading pleasure in just a few months. And THEN! Onto the sequel! Which I am furiously writing right now. (Note re: furiously – there’s some swearing going on, coming from me, as I shove some plot around that I came up with that is TOTALLY AWESOME but changes stuff I already wrote, but I swear I am working Very Hard.)

In other life news, the eXit SPACE 10^th anniversary dance performance went wonderfully well. We had a blast, we kicked ass, we performed the hell out of all of our pieces, and we had a blast. Did I mention we had a blast? We were very, very sparkly, and very, very silly, and I love all my dancer peeps and I’m still going through withdrawals, even though I’ve been to classes since. Some days when I get to the studio I just want to awkwardly hug everyone a lot. I don’t, because I try really hard not to be too creepy with everyone. It’s a trial.

But here are some photos to prove how much fun we were having.

80s makeup for A Chorus Line. Because Duran Duran eyes. That’s why. Bonus sweat from just getting off stage. I aim to make these experiences realistic. PS sweatbands are only sort of helpful. Must be why they went out of style.

JAZZ IT! Most of the Jazz cast. We’re so proud.

Modern backstage selfie. Aww, dancer love.

Now I’m back to my regularly over-scheduled summer. I keep thinking I don’t have that much going on, and then suddenly I realize that I have something scheduled for every weekend for the next forever and how did that happen, anyway? I’m naturally a homebody and an introvert. I really like people (most people) but I also really need time to sit and process and not do. And by not do, I mean NOT DO. NOTHING DOING. SITTING ON MY BUTT THINKING SOME BUT SORT OF JUST STARING AT ZIPPO WHILE I LET MY MIND WANDER. That’s how I manage my buzzing brain, anyway. Lately I’ve spent too much time on twitter and stuff instead, but I really benefit from staring into space. I come up with plot and character that way, I come up with words that way, I let go of things that are bothering me that way, I keep my keel relatively even that way. So pardon me if sometimes, if I’m over-scheduled, I don’t talk to people too much. My keel is getting uneven and I have to shift sails and look for calmer waters in the ship of my head. Or something. (Sailors, stop laughing.) (Or keep laughing, I live to entertain.)

This is my life. It’s weird, but it’s good. Working on evening out my keel, keeping on dancing, keeping on writing, keeping on keeping on. Happy Summer!

Title is from “Like Real People Do” by Hozier, which I am completely obsessed with at the moment.

Well hello, June is busting out all over. In that it is now June, and May went away, and I’m behind and exhausted and sore but GETTING SO STRONG, so that’s gotta be worth something, right?

I spent the whole of May either working out, taking dance class, rehearsing for the upcoming show, working, writing, or recovering from those things. And more the physical stuff than anything else, and oh, how sore I am. But my guns are looking really gunny these days, which has been awhile since I’ve seen those, so I’m stoked about that. Also my legs are stronger, my stamina is better, and I’m feeling pretty good about most of the choreography. All from lifting other dancers, lifting myself, doing pushups, doing situps, doing leg lifts, plies, the elliptical, walking, and just boogie, boogie, boogie all the live-long day.

I’m very tired.

All of this is to explain why I haven’t blogged – I haven’t had the bandwidth for the blogging. Brain brain what is brain? It’s that thing that I use for work, some writing on the sequel, choreography and NOTHING ELSE because it just gives up and shuts down when I try. It makes it really hard when people bring me stuff at work that I’m not ready for, because I can feel my thought process ka-chunk ka-chunk into a new gear and I have to blink and stutter for a few minutes until I can focus on the new thing. And I’m only in 5 dance pieces – I don’t know how certain others who are in 9 or so pieces are even handling their lives. Possibly they take naps. Or they’re just way more badass than I am.

But the show! The show is coming up in under two weeks and we’re pushing to be so kick ass, y’all! If you didn’t get your tickets, you’re about to be super sad, because Saturday’s show is sold out, and Friday’s is almost so. But if you did get yours, hey presto, we are going to entertain the heck out of you. Be ready. June 12^th and 13^th are the evening shows, and there are 4 matinees with the kids on the 13^th and 14^th. I’m in at least one dance in each matinee, so I’m going to show up with my fancy new costume suitcase and live at the theater, starting the night of the 9^th, which is the first tech rehearsal. (10^th, other tech rehearsal, 11^th, dress rehearsal, and then shows starting the 12^th. There is a reason I’ve been pushing myself on the stamina front.) If I can, I will post pictures. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you’ll see some there. SO MUCH BOOGIE AND JAZZ HANDS. Yay! (If you still want to try to see it, go to brownpapertickets.com and look up takePAUSE 2015.)

In writing news, I am chugging away at the sequel to A Ragged Magic, and changing my mind about a few things I thought were set, but maybe they aren’t, and then chugging away again. Uh. In the middle, is what I am. The messy, messy middle where I start to panic and throw plotlines about and hope some kind of coherency shows up to help me out. I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THESE PEOPLE, HOW DO I FIX THIS, I NEED THEM TO GET OVER HERE BUT THEY’RE JUST MILLING AROUND TALKING ABOUT CRAP AND IGNORING ME. That’s where I am. So I’m about to rocks fall, buncha people die on it, because why plot holes why ya gotta do me like this, is why. I do feel that I have some really cool awesome plot in there, but the issue is making it hang together, and not get too bogged down in either explanations or side plots. And to not lose sight of the important character growth. I like where the plot is ultimately going, but I’m not always sure I know what I’m doing to get it there. I feel certain I am not the only writer in the world to struggle with this.

Other writing news is going on but I feel like I can’t really talk about it until I have official stuff to tell you, so it’s all kind of not-a-secret-but-I-have-no-information-so-just-hold-please. Annoying, I know, but I don’t have any control over that. Other people have all the control over that and I shall try not to be too anxious about that but probably fail. Anxious-R-Us, but that is hardly news to anyone, now, is it?

So, to sum up – ALL THE DANCING is happening, and I’m super tired and sore. WRITING IS HARD and I’m working on it. WORK IS, well, it’s just work. I go there a lot. They pay me, so that’s good.

LIFE: The Cliffsnotes version. Hope all your summers are shaping up to be loverly.

Title is from “Dance Apocalytic” by Janelle Monáe