Last night I was feeling so crazy and obsessed with my submission data (WHY hadn't I heard back on certain stories or novels? WHEN would I hear? etc.) that I finally forced myself to see sense. I decided that the only way to get through the madness was to forget all about every submission that's "out there" and just focus on new writing. So there!

This morning, I got a wonderfully encouraging letter about one of those submissions.

I feel that this may be a life lesson. (Although, of course, knowing me, it probably won't be one that lasts long.)

Today was lovely, especially since my mood had been buoyed up by the good writing news. I wrote five and a half more pages of Chapter One of the new novel. I went into the university to do an Exam Invigilators' Training Session (for my January temp job), and ran into Patrick on his lunch break, completely by accident. It was the best surprise for both of us. I love the fact that we work on the same campus! After he got off work in the evening, we drank steaming hot, luscious Apfelwein at the Christmas market. It's been a good day, all in all.

(Just to ward off any paranoid worries about Too Much Good Luck, I did manage to burn my lip spectacularly and painfully while cooking pasta for dinner.Boiling water spattered off my cooking spoon, onto my lip. Ouch! It's very hard to run cold water over a burnt lip.)