August 7, 2026
Dreams can be incredibly weird. The other night my friends and I were at ground zero and were discussing the nuclear bomb that was going to explode any minute.
“This should be interesting,” they said.
The entire event flashed in my imagination.
“Definitely,” I said calmly. “But we won’t remember it. We’ll all be dead.”
The realization woke me up.
I had been listening to The Children of Húrin, one of J. R. R. Tolkien’s books on tape narrated by Christopher Lee. I wonder if he was reading about a battle. I actually haven’t read this book yet. Listening to books on tape at night to fight my insomnia, not matter how much I love the writer (and Tolkien is my favorite), put me to sleep. I didn’t have the A-bomb problem with The Hobbit, The Lords of the Rings, or The Simarillion and those have battles galore.
Strange.
August 5, 2026
Vision Updates
The doctor says my right eye is recovering quite well and tests show the vision in that eye is very good. It's only slightly nearsighted. Just what I wanted.
She showed me how to order temporary glasses for $39, which I can wear after the cataract surgery on my left eye is done next Thursday. These glasses, which should arrive soon, include both lenses based on the vision in my right eye. After the second cataract surgery is done, the new glasses won't use lenses for my soon-to-be-gone horrible vision. Hurrah!
After the doctor tests the vision in my left eye the week after the surgery, she'll be able to give me a new prescription so I can order new glasses I'll use permanently.
Reaction from Roberta Rogow re Her Book, Songs of Space
Roberta called me today to say she received the printed copy I sent her of Songs of Space, which was published by Gettier Group (www.gettiergroup.net), my small press. She loved it, thought it was beautiful and quite professional, and was impressed by how little time it took me to produce it. That was a rewarding reaction. I'm impressed with it, too, mostly because I've had a lot of things going on, not because I don't know how to publish a book. My first job was at a subsidiary of Prentice-Hall.
I sent a hundred flyers to Palmer Pickering who's kindly putting them on the freebie table at LAcon V at the end of August. I'm hoping filkers and perhaps some others who are attending the convention will pick up a flyer and buy the book! Since the book is available September 1, LAcon V is the perfect place to market the book.
July 28, 2026
I'm very proud of myself. As my husband and I were heading off to the surgery center, the printed copies of Songs of Space from Ingram arrived. Book accomplished. Hurrah!
Cataract surgery is fascinating. Apparently, it's the most performed surgery in the United States. One of my doctors noted that if you live long enough, you'll develop cataracts.
On July 23 I had cataract surgery on my right eye. The surgery, performed with a laser, was painless and quite simple. When my doctor removed the cataract, my vision in that eye became quite blurry and looked like a reddish-pink blog separated by pale yellow channels. The doctor and I chatted briefly about the blurriness, then I fell asleep until the surgery was complete. Insomnia plus the idiopathic hypersomnia I inherited from my paternal grandmother have advantages. Also, the anesthesia put me out almost instantly.
Recovery is only slightly awkward. My instructions for the first week are:
Make sure not to bend to avoid dislodging the new lens. My husband is feeding the cat, cleaning the litterbox, and wiping up her occasional need to toss her cookies on the rug. I can deal with this, especially the last two items.
Wear a shield on my eye at night to avoid unconsciously rubbing or scratching it. Taping the shield to cover my eye is a challenge. Sometimes my hair gets caught up in the tape. Sometimes I'm a klutz.
Take eyedrops three times a day. The eyedrops sting a bit, but who cares? One must remember the overall goal: better vision.
Surgery on my left eye is August 13. It's possible that removing the cataract might cure the mild case of glaucoma in that eye. If it does, the pope will hear my screams of joy.
Also, I'm back to writing the third novel, Mariah Rhodes: Finding Truth, in my new YA science fiction series.
July 16, 2026
I'm waiting for printed copies of Songs of Space to arrive. Ingram can be rather slow sometimes. Two of the reviewers request printed copies. Yesterday I added the media kit to the Gettier Group website (www.gettiergroup.net). I need to add the media kits for the other books I've published also, but writing calls me. Priorities and all that.
July 10, 2026
Songs of Space, the book I'm publishing for fellow writer Roberta Rogow (www.gettiergroup.net), is finished or nearly so. That is, it's at the printer (both Ingram and Amazon) and will be published September 1. I need to finish the media kit, which should be done tonight and send the book off for more reviews.
Back to writing the third volume of the Mariah Rhodes series: Mariah Rhodes: Finding Truth. Hurrah! I'm quite excited.
July 6, 2026
Dreams
When I was three, I believed that dreams were my personal television shows. When I woke, I’d tell my mother I had a good—or sometimes bad—TV show. The first dream I remember was a nightmare, which I later as an adult wrote as “The Ice Witch.”
At seven I wrote my first story: “The Snowman.” It came from a dream. Several other dreams inspired stories. When I’m working on a story and am puzzling out an issue, I think about it before falling asleep and often times have the solution when I wake.
I believe that dreams, which are wonderfully imaginative, prove that everyone can be creative. Dreams provide an endless database of ideas that need to be massaged into well-told stories.
Unexpected Resolution
Two weeks ago I experienced a catastrophe on a project. It felt like a part of me had died. Since then I've been working desperately to reconstruct the project with mixed results. Last night I resolved everything, rather easily. Duh, duh, duh! Happiness is mine, and I'm off to the pool. I need exercise.
June 26, 2026
My ophthalmologist told me there's a chance I might not have glaucoma after the cataract surgery. She'll check a month after the surgery on my left eye. If true, even the Pope will hear me screaming with joy.
Today I've been getting ready to work on my third book in the Mariah Rhodes series again. Even though I haven't been actively writing, I've been thinking a lot about the book. Translation: planning, something I do when a book is in progress. Tomorrow I'll start writing. Today I've been reorganizing the files and continuing to reinstall software, such as Scrivener. Malware damaged my computer a few weeks ago and the entire operating system needed to be wiped out and reinstalled. My files were safe, but I've been busy reinstalling software since. Big pain.
June 25, 2026
Today, because the weather was good (i.e., not too hot nor raining), I was able to walk around the block, which made me feel quite good. Hurrah!
I've been working rather hard on publishing Songs of Space by Roberta Rogow. This work and recreating my websites--one for Gettier Group (www.gettiergroup.net) and this one (www.dhtimpko.com)--has kept me enormously busy, so having the time to walk around the block was a relief. I'm anticipating a final or near final version of the interior illustrations and perhaps the cover tomorrow.
I'm uncertain when the Library of Congress will look at my request for an LCCN. It's been in the "open" stage for the last two weeks. No doubt my request won't be looked at or approved until my first cataract surgery or perhaps later. However, maybe I'm just being pessimistic. The media kit is generally complete other than the LCCN and more reviews of the book. The book is also complete.
Tomorrow I have a pre-op for the first cataract surgery, although there's another appointment on the day before the surgery. Cataract surgery is the most performed surgery in the United States, so I'm not anticipating any problems. I've already seen a retina specialist who cleared me from damage to my retinas, saying that my retinas were great.
June 22, 2026
What has been stressing me out for the last few days?
For complicated reasons I needed to recreate my website. This means I haven't been writing, which is quite irksome. Good news: the website is now complete, although I may need to add a couple of things.
What I'm looking forward to in July and August?
Cataract surgery for both eyes, first on my right, then on my left. I'm so excited. No more need to pay $1,000 for glasses after the surgeries. My vision will be so much better. My new glasses might only be $200. What a deal!
May and Previous 2026
Books 1 and 2 of my Mariah Rhodes science fiction series for young adults are complete. I'm currently writing Book 3 and plan to write more.
What are the book titles in the series?
The series includes three books:
Book 1, Mariah Rhodes: Escaping to Space (DONE!)
Book 2, Mariah Rhodes: Surviving the Danger Planet (DONE!)
Book 3, Mariah Rhodes: Finding Truth
The books tell the continuing story of Mariah Rhodes, a thirteen-year-old girl with telekinesis who is born into a religious cult that disapproves of supernatural powers.
The theme of the novels is survival despite multiple, major traumatic events.
Besides a unique and unusual plot, the series includes a science fiction invention I've never seen in any other science fiction novel: an alien device called a Knowledge Keeper. You need to read the books when they're published to find out what it is.
The unpublished manuscript of Mariah Rhodes: Escaping to Space was a category finalist in the 2025 American Writing Awards.