let it snow

They’re predicting it will snow today. I don’t plan to leave the house but still spent a little time this morning looking at winter boots online. Then I went to my closet and realized I was about to buy a pair of boots that were identical to the pair I already own. I eat when I’m not hungry. I binge watch shows on mute. My right forearm has started to ache from spending too much time in front of the computer and the novel STILL ISN’T DONE. I just got yet another extension and think this will be the last one. But I’m feeling my age, y’all. I gave up all-nighters years ago but I can no longer churn out thousands and thousands of words every day. Fifteen hundred words seems to be my limit and some nights I turn in having written only seven or eight hundred. It all counts, it all moves the story forward. But last night I revisited Dragons in a Bag and realized I might have some inconsistencies in Book #3. I can leave that for the copy editors to catch, but it’s still troubling. I want to write efficiently but at this point, I can barely see the forest for the trees. I can focus on a paragraph, maybe a chapter, but I’ve lost all sense of the overarching narrative. I need a break! We’re hoping to have this book edited by Xmas, which is just a few weeks away…so no more dithering. I’ve been getting more steps in and I’m still doing my daily stretches and weights; SO thankful for this treadmill and my two local friends who invite me out for long walks. My Zooms are finally slowing down. Last week’s NCTE ten-person panel was a success and I jumped from that to an amazing raptor talk hosted by the Evanston Public Library; I’m also taking an African American theater class there this week. I baked some tasty cornbread for Thanksgiving and shared it with my friends. Scholastic posted these wonderful free resources on their blog since Dragons in a Bag is their Book Club Book of the Week, and I think I’m allowed to announce that The Dragon Thief has been adopted for the Scholastic Book Fair. Fans of the series seem to get younger and younger, which is sweet but something else I need to keep in mind as I write Book #3. For now, I just need to FINISH. So off to work I go…