Hey -- I finished the ol' paper route at ten minutes to six today! So I rewarded myself with one of those instant cappucino things and two donuts at the 24-hour Kroger on my way home. It's the little things in life that count, you know? Of course, I was off by one paper, but otherwise I was perfect this morning, and I even got to sleep in until 3 a.m. (I had been getting up at 2:45!).

I'm still rearranging my schedule and trying to find the best times to get my writing done without killing myself in the process. Looks like I'll be writing after my route's over, from 6-10 a.m. or so, or until I start falling asleep at the keyboard... 4 hours a day is really good, and I can do a lot in that time, if I stay focused. Of course, I usually spend my first hour or so reading email and web journals and updating this journal, then walking the dog, so it's more like 3 hours. But you get the picture!!!

Today is Official Work On the Romance Novel Day. I have to complete a polished draft of the first chapter and send it off to fellow novelist Jenn so she can rip it apart -- yep, Jenn, I got your message in your journal! Coming soon, ma'am! :). Then I need to get my outline done. I want to have all of this done by the end of the weekend. I had fun doing research on Ocracoke last night, where the novel is set, and found some awesome photos of the area, including this aerial shot and this beautiful sunset, which is now the background image on my computer.

With that chapter and outline done, I plan on doing some major work on the SF novel, which has been languishing much too long. I'd love to get a draft done by the end of the month, but September has nearly slipped away from me! Where the hell did it go?

I did it -- finished the first draft of the first chapter of the romance novel! Wahoo! It's 4,500 words, and I wrote over half of it today. I'm having a lot of fun with it, doing both research and drafting. I'm amazed at how so much of the story is falling into place as I research. I keep coming up with new stuff to add. So I need to look over it one more time tomorrow, then I'll send it out to folks for review. Yeehaw! Later.

Today's Words:
2,300

Now Reading:
Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick; Northern Gothic, Nick Mamatas

Now Playing:
"Magnolia" soundtrack, "Bachelor No. 2," and "Whatever," Aimee Mann; "Tongues and Tails," Sophie B. Hawkins

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