Words Written: DFL: 1230

Damn but I love carpooling! Got about 650 words done this morning. The other riders are in awe. I think I’m finally finding the voice for this one. I have to chop out about 1K by the time I finish this chapter, since I rewrote one scene completely and I’m not looking forward/back yet. Just getting words out, exploring a little until it clicks. And it’s clicking. :-)

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Rainy today, with low, glowery grey clouds. I love it! I’d forgotten that the Oxnard/Ventura area had a nice balance of dark with the usual southern California brightness.

I’m also happy because I haven’t watered my herbs in a while, and now nature’s doing it for me. :-)

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Got an e-mail from Ed & Marian today that they arrived home safely. Good to know! The house is very quiet now…strange. The cats would like to know why there are fewer people present to cater to their every whim.

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Woo, and then my good mood is bruised by a rejection for my story for the Denise Little anthology. Didn’t quite fit the theme in the end. (However, she said, if she does one with a blood-based theme, she’ll ask for it!) It’ll be out to another market this weekend, probably RoF.

Grit teeth, soldier on.

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Gods, what a strange, strange day this is turning out to be. First the rejection. Then an e-mail from a friend with some sad news. Then, I get cc:d as part of a mass e-mail by the editor of SNW8 about book signing, even though my story’s not going to be in the book after all. Not a huge thing—I mean, I’m pleased I made the initial sale, even though my story ended up being disqualified—but I didn’t need to be reminded that my story’s not going to be in the book. (Interesting: I first wrote “even though I’m not going to be in the book”. But it’s not me, it’s a story that I wrote, and that distinction is important.) Anyway. Nothing major is wrong in my life, but it felt like these three e-mails came bam! bam! bam! and just chipped away at the edges of things, throwing me a little off balance again.

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I’m okay, really. It was just an odd afternoon…