It’s a much more pleasant morning, weather-wise. Not nearly as hot and gross as it has been, and it has allowed me to turn off the a/c and open the windows. There’s something very helpful from a creative aspect that comes from access to fresh air. I’m not sure how some authors hole themselves up in hotel rooms to complete books–I would have to just traipse off to a forest or meadow or garden to do this (which is not something I haven’t done. Been a while though…). It’s also threatening rain, which is not altogether a bad thing either. No plans to go out, as usual, so all’s well there. It will be nice, however, to someday eliminate ‘I can’t go out and do anything because I can’t afford it’ from my world. Seriously, even my gasoline is severely rationed at the moment, so there’s no visiting parks, no gardens, no exploring. At least no farther than my feet can carry me and my options there are limited as well. A sad fact that I’m rather tired of, and the longer it goes on, the less I want to create. A cycle that I should like to break a lot sooner than later…

Anyway…

So, I will be exploring along with the twins today–filling in gaps between scenes, finishing off chapters, and getting other little blank spots transformed into picturesque moments. I am currently on page 100 (and a little stumped where I am…) out of 175 pages. With a quick glance through the entire book a few days ago, I would say I may be able to finish filling in and wrap this one up within another 50 pages or so. It could always be longer or shorter than that, but this is my estimate. It’s always interesting to reach this kind of moment in writing a book. That sensation of “This is actually going to be finished!” gets a little more real, and there is a slight sense of hope that goes along with that as well. The best part about this book: the cover is already complete, so once all the editing is done and there’s nothing more I can do with the book itself, I can release it right away. The same goes for “A Potagerie of Rejects”. While I still have about 2 or 3 shorts to finish up in there (and release to my Patreon supporters First), that book is also pretty close to done, and the cover is ready to go. I may spend a little time this weekend, going through my handwritten pieces once more, to see if there isn’t anything else I can include in this anthology. In my quest to purge and eliminate the amount of things I possess, I have once again been reminded that a good chunk of it is in my handwritten work: three boxes and a bookshelf’s worth. I should get back to transcribing some of that into computer files and open up some more space. It’s a tedious process though–not the typing, so much as wanting to edit and revamp at the same time. It’s a really difficult temptation to resist, because some of it just is so very terrible, and how horrifying would it be to have that rubbish found posthumously?? I can’t have that. I will incorporate at least a little of that into my day!

A second cup of coffee, I think, and back to connecting some dots within the Labyrinth. As much as I don’t want to skip around and would rather plow straight through with it, I think I may have to come back to the scene I’m struggling with. I have seven marked, after all, so it’s not like there isn’t another to work on! (And that doesn’t even take me through the end of the book!)

Lots to work on. Lots and Lots.