you're under the gun so you take it on the run

Hello. I'm in a v. introverted mood tonight...or, more accurately, I was completely and utterly dreading getting my editorial letter back from my editor, and so I ate my heart out and stewed about it while working, pretending to relax, taking a nap, etc., etc. I mostly put on a brave face all day - I met Kathia for a writing date at seven a.m. and started rereading Thorington's story to get back into it, and then I slogged pretty brutally from nine until four-ish. But at that point I was done, and I hadn't gotten the letter yet, and I was mildly freaking out. So I put on a dress, went for a walk (which I wasn't supposed to do since I'm trying to stay off my foot, but desperate times...), and had tacos and a margarita to try to dull the pain.

That was mostly successful - too successful, perhaps, since I came home desperate for a nap. The nap was accomplished, and I awoke to find my editorial letter. But I couldn't bring myself to read it because I'm a fragile flower. So I did laundry, painted my toenails (the big toenail is looking pretty black - I don't think my chances of keeping it are very promising), read through every Twitter and Tumblr thing I could come across, etc. Finally, though, I forced myself to read it. And, all in, it was really good. There are some things I still need to change in the segment that I sent to the editor, but overall it's in good shape. The downside is that I was correct in thinking that there's no way I can wrap this up in another fifty pages - it's more like a hundred and fifty. Damn. So much for trying to write a shorter book.

But now that I know that, I can move forward with a clear mind. And I'm happy about that, all things considered; I'm not happy that it's taking so long to finish this book (although nine or ten months is really not that long, I suppose), but I think the book will be better as a longer, more dramatic piece. So, we shall see.

To kickstart this, though, I'm running away early tomorrow morning with Kathia for a weekend writing retreat in Half Moon Bay. We're only staying there Saturday night, but we're going down early tomorrow and staying late Sunday, so hopefully I'll accomplish a lot and get some excellent writing done. Wish me luck - and now I'm off to bed. Goodnight!