Whew! Mr Darcy's new stroller has already more than proven itself in this household. Yesterday morning, while Patrick was still asleep, I took Mr Darcy out for a long walk in the stroller, and by the time we got back home, not only was he asleep, but I had finally worked out in my head exactly how my vampires-in-East Lansing story should end. Back at home, Mr Darcy continued to sleep beautifully (first in my lap and then on Patrick's shoulder), and I wrote the last 1800 words of the story in a mad dash of inspiration. Hooray! I'm very happy with the story, and I really hope Ben (who requested vampires in East Lansing for his Christmas gift) will like it. Crossing my fingers...

It was also an interesting example of the way my perceptions don't always match reality. I've had some panicky moments recently about how much less writing I'm doing now than before Mr Darcy was born. (I know, I know, no surprise, but still...) Yesterday, though, I realized that I'd conceived & written my brothers' two Christmas stories, both full-length pieces that feel as strong as anything I've ever written, in a grand total of 5-1/2 weeks. Huh. I may not yet be writing as much as I had been before, but it's certainly not as little as I'd feared, either...so that was a nice discovery.

AAlso, I just read two really nice reviews of "The Andrassii Agreement" (thanks for pointing out the second one, Chaz!), which felt great. So, I am going to use those to bolster myself up for a writing session now, despite the fact that Mr Darcy cried real, heartbreaking tears and screamed at the top of his lungs all through the 15 minutes I cruelly and selfishly cooked myself lunch and ate it without holding him...sigh. He's asleep on my lap again now, returned to peace, while I'm still vibrating with tension. Never mind. I'm going to use the "silly and wonderful" tagline from one of the reviews as my flag for forging ahead with writing this afternoon anyway. Some days, humor is harder for me to write...but those are usually the days I need it most. Wish me luck!