Guys, I don’t mean to brag, but I am actually a week ahead in drawing comics for the first time in…a long time. I can’t even remember the last occasion. Of course, I probably shouldn’t brag, because the reason I am ahead is that I totally forgot to post this comic after I drew it last week, but I feel this can be forgiven, since I was on an airplane for most of that day, and afterwards was busy sitting on the couch at my dad’s house. (“Busy.”) Anyway, shame or no, the effect is the same! I’m ahead of schedule! And it’s a good thing, too, because December is going to be pretty crazy. (Dave goes out of town –> I go out of town –> I get surgery –> soon after, Christmas.)

Dave and I went to Seattle for Thanksgiving, and since I bought the tickets so far in advance (be ye warned: if your dad tells you that Alaska Airlines is having a two-for-one sale, you may already be mentally committed to buying tickets by the time you find out that the sale only applies if you sign up for a credit card), I was able to score first class tickets (one direction only) for not too much extra money, and was pretty amped about this. Then I woke up the morning of our flight, and, predictably, had a bad cold. While I didn’t let this stop me from taking advantage of the amenities of first class air travel (DID YOU KNOW that flying can actually be ENJOYABLE?), it’s not what I would have picked.

As a result of my sore throat/swollen lymph nodes/general crap feeling, I spent slightly more time in Seattle sitting around and reading quietly than I might otherwise have done (I didn’t even cook anything! I just chopped sweet potatoes, one time). Sometimes I felt bad about it. But it’s also possible that sitting around and reading quietly was the best case scenario, given that I was already very tired, and this was a vacation? So I don’t know, now I feel like I’m recommending getting sick when you go home for the holidays. I will leave it to you, dear reader, to extrapolate whatever you want from my experience.

Anyway, now I’m home and feeling 95% better. We’re in Best Of The Year List territory, book-wise, and it has been restful not to have to worry about that for myself this time around. (The anticipation! The highs! The lows!) But I was awfully happy to see my new novel, Invitation to a Bonfire, on this incredible list of books to look forward to for 2018! Thanks Book Riot! Thanks Liberty!

So maybe I’m pro-sickness and pro-lists? The world is stranger than we ever dreamed.