Don’t Stop Me Now: Mercury Retrograde, Ruby Queen, and the Second Book Taking Shape

Freddie Mercury and Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now has been playing in my head today.

Another synchronicity?

It is Mercury retrograde, I am writing about Ruby Queen, and somehow that song seems to sum up the whole mood of this creative chapter. Things are moving. Ideas are arriving. The world is unfolding faster than I expected.

Today I opened Canva and began planning the scenes for my next children’s book, The One About the Shrinking Sneeze. With Chat helping me think through the visual direction, I started designing the backgrounds where the characters will soon be placed.

Along the way, Ruby’s House of Mystique Mansion was redrawn and prepared for its close-ups. The stage is now being set for one of the rooms I am especially excited about: the Alchemy Room.

That room feels important. It is where the magic, mischief and mayhem of the shrinking sneeze can really begin.

As this world continues to unfold from my imagination, I find myself wanting to live inside Ruby’s mansion. In many ways, it reminds me of the home I once had in West High Street — crystal chandeliers, an apothecary, herbs, a big kitchen, and even a velvet Victorian four-seat dining table.

Then I remembered that most of those treasures are in storage now.

Bummer.

But perhaps that is part of the strange magic of writing. What we cannot physically live inside anymore, we sometimes rebuild in story form. Ruby’s mansion may not be my actual house, but it seems to hold many pieces of places I have loved.

Today, if I had to rate my mood, I would give it a 7 out of 10.

The head cold is still lingering, and in my outer world, not much has changed except the huge fact that my first book is now uploaded and moving toward publication. But at least half of today’s good feeling comes from the second book taking shape.

The manuscript is done.
The illustrations are underway.
The world is expanding.

I have taken my disability support work off my plate this week so I can recover and not spread the cold — even though that is probably where I caught it in the first place. But perhaps it is a blessing in disguise. The unexpected pause has given me space to focus on the next book.

If all goes well, The One About the Shrinking Sneeze may be illustrated and ready for test readers by the end of the week.

That makes me happy.

It also opens up a new possibility from a marketing point of view. Instead of launching with only one book, I may soon have two books available — perhaps even as a little package on Amazon, and sitting side by side on the House of Mystique bookshelf.

That feels like a real milestone.

I have chosen August as my release date, partly to move clear of the Mercury retrograde transit. After years of studying astrology, I know enough to avoid launching something precious in the middle of cosmic crossed wires if I can help it.

Even better, around that time, the Sun and Jupiter will be transiting over my natal Mars in Leo.

That feels like a good omen.

A fiery one.

So today, despite the tissues, the head cold, the retrograde, and the fact that my outer life has not yet caught up with my inner world, something is definitely building.

Ruby’s mansion is standing.
The Alchemy Room is waiting.
The second book is moving.
House of Mystique is becoming real.

And somewhere in the background, Freddie Mercury is still singing.

Don’t stop me now.