It's been a week since I forwarded my script to Lynn. The phone hasn't rung since then. I'm getting better about waiting -- I still have all my fingernails.

Today Lynn calls me and before the "o" of Hello travels across the phone lines, she's apologizing profusely. I e-mailed her my script, and she promptly started having hardware problems. Not the virus kind, but the kind associated with upgrading your machine from old to new. It's always fun to get a faster machine, but almost always accompanied by the inevitable reinstalling of software (she hasn't been able to access e-mail, either), discovering that a disk can't be recognized and reinstalling that software, yadda, yadda, yadda.

The short of it is, she finally got everything back to normal and is going to read the script asap. We shared a moment of anxiety bleed-off. She has been in the same emotional/mental position as I and can commiserate as well as give a well-placed kick in the derriere to help jolt me out of it.

She's going to have to stand in line, though, because I have a whole slew of excellent friends who will willingly don the velvet boots in order to remind me that the devil on the shoulder lies all the time.

If I have any advice to give to other writers, it's to surround yourself with people who are courageous enough to be honest, caring enough to encourage and patient enough to weather the tumult (again, and again, and again...).