60,028 words on the manuscript, and finally I've got my focus back.

Writers are delicate creatures. I can't work well when taking antibiotics, when stressed, when on painkillers, etc. And the load of stress is slowly easing. The pond is so much help in this I can't express—just the sound of the water, our funny collection of anime-named fish, the visit of the daily dragonfly, and the wind in the hawthorne leaves—sure, the other side of the fence is a major city arterial, but y'know, you hear what you want to hear, and I'd rather hear the waterfall.

Midsouthcon wr