I stayed up too late, and I had been so good about going to bed just a little earlier this week. The culprit is my desire to read, and the object of my desire was Robin McKinley's newest release, PEGASUS, which just came out on Tuesday and arrived that afternoon on my doorstep in a lovely Amazon box. I left the box sitting just inside my door, unopened and unacknowledged, while I worked this week, knowing if I ever ripped the pulltab open that I would be sucked into the book and not flung back out until I was done.
And I was right. I should have written tonight, since I didn't get a chance to do so today, but I couldn't wait any longer. It's a shame, though, because I knew that the book ends on a complete cliffhanger (practically mid-scene), and since I read the author's blog, I know she's still writing the sequel - which means it's probably eighteen months away from being published. I'm such a fool, since now I'll be dreaming of this story until the second part finally comes out. As with all of McKinley's stories, the writing is luscious, the characters are interesting and believable, and the storyline is v. unique while also feeling somehow comfortable and welcoming. I checked Amazon and was surprised to see relatively negative reviews, which made me sad for the fate of humanity, since two of the low reviews complained about too many flashbacks and not being able to keep track of when things were happening. Clearly people no longer have the attention span necessary to read something that does not progress in completely linear style like a Facebook wall or a series of text messages.
Anyway, I'm glad I read it, and I will likely reread it again at least once before the sequel comes out, but I should go to sleep immediately if I'm going to make it to the gym in time for my eleven a.m. training session. I had a lovely day; I did a couple of hours of work this morning on that freelance project that somehow keeps growing, and then went to the gym, where I hung out on the elliptical while watching a show about famous female murderers (called "Fatal Beauty", since of course all female killers must be attractive in whatever skewed logic was working in the show producers' heads). After the gym, I came home, rearranged books for an hour to move all my research materials to the new bookcase by my desk, and then met up with Heather (aka dear respected madam) for dinner at Chili's (which felt v. all-American, since they were playing Matchbox 20 on the speakers and my other friends would very rarely allow themselves to go there). It was good to see her, even in a setting where the small children in the booth behind me were always banging into my back through the seat.
I will close by saying that the combination of freelancing, working out, going to classes, and meeting up with people for dinner has made me so busy that I've been feeling what I can only describe as a little hum of happiness running through everything. Now I need to channel that happiness and that enjoyment of being busy into some massive writing; the Golden Heart deadline is three and a half weeks away, and the situation is beginning to get dire. So, off to bed, then to the gym, and then some writing this weekend. Goodnight!
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