i've been waiting for this moment for all my life...hold on

I'm going to have to throw in the towel...but the writing retreat has been going v. well so far, and I think it was worth it to invest a few days (and some dollar bills) in going away to finish this book. Today was partially about getting settled, of course; I had breakfast, and then I got a massage, since I hadn't had one in at least three months and my neck and back are a perpetual warzone. So much of a warzone, in fact, that the masseuse was horrified just looking at my shoulders before I'd even taken my robe off. So, if the Cathedral of Notre Dame is looking for a new bellringer, let me know and I shall apply!

The massage was good, albeit not perfect; I had thought about scheduling another one for later in the week, but I think I'll wait and get one from my trusted Palo Alto massage lady instead. Post-massage, I put on some real clothes and walked down the street to have a leisurely lunch while working on Nick and Ellie. And I had a great breakthrough there on how to fix one of the scenes I was struggling with, which made the writing this afternoon easier. Then I stopped in at a fancy pen store (one of my weaknesses) and bought a mouthwatering new fountain pen; it was on sale, which made it absurdly cheap compared to other pens of its ilk and absurdly expensive to the boxes of 24 ballpoints one can get at Staples.

Once I got back to the hotel, though, my room was clean and I was ready to be productive. And I was v. productive; I rewrote several scenes and finally think I've figured out the end of the book, so yay to that. I took a break around seven to go to Safeway and buy a frozen enchilada and some snacky snacks, and I ate that in my room while ignoring the temptation of the free wine happy hour in the hotel office and the complimentary decanter of sherry in my room. I also lit a fire in the fireplace, which I kept going for several hours - it's freezing in California, as you may have heard, and so the fire was both v. helpful as an addition to my overwhelmed room heater and also v. welcome in terms of ambience.

Now, though, I should sleep; I need to get up and at it tomorrow. I have no plans other than writing, and I want to get through the rest of the major scene additions so that I can move on to smaller emotional/character/setting arcs later in the week. Goodnight!