Benson is in third stage editing

Normally I would call this the final phase, but having ventured into new genre (to me) territory, the first two phases uncovered a number of places where the plot and setting were threadbare, if not actually holed, so I have to do a bit of patching and stitching to make the novel whole.

In my spare time I still plot and peck away at other projects, but I have no major breakouts to report at the moment.

I did suffer a strange setback last week: my wife had a credit card application denied because of insufficient credit history.

I was flabbergasted: our vehicles and mortgage are paid off, we have no carry-over debt, suitable savings, and a healthy household income.

Which turns out to be the problem: the card company does not want to lend money to people who pay off debt quickly.

This flies in the face of my lifetime financial outlook: eliminate debt, amass savings.

It isn’t a big deal, but I found it both unsettling and also amusing.