I was working up until about 11 p.m. last night, revising and fixing and critiquing and polishing my stuff and a paper for Lizzie, among various other misc. chores, and never got a chance to update my journal. Plus the cable modem went out for some reason last night, and never came back. So what can ya do? But I like to update my journal whenever I get some good writing done, so here I am, half a day later.

I also had a nice chat with my old college bud Cathi, the only person I keep up with from my University of Iowa days. She's now a cool-cat midwife in the Chicago suburbs. She also just celebrated her first anniversary with her hubby Paul. They are currently reenacting the Shelly Long-Tom Hanks classic "The Money Pit" with their new house. Ouch. I feel your pain, guys! Hang in there. Seems like it's been a rough-ass year for everyone, in one way or the other. But we all get by, somehow. Cathi and Paul may be NC-bound next month for a quick weekend visit, which would be a blast.

I feel like I'm running behind already today, thanks to the travails of the Esquart. I really can't complain about my 10-year-old coche, but today the poor fella let me down. I was, oh, about 50 papers into my route when I heard a THUMP as I was turning off Main in Wake Forest. I'd just stopped at a gas station earlier to fill up the front tires with air, so I figured everything was cool, but it turns out the BACK tire was flat. Doh. I think I drove a good quarter-mile with it thump-thump-thumping before I realized something was up. Or down, you could say. So picture me, in the dark on a side street at 4:35 a.m., doing the quick-change on the rear passenger-side tire, cranking up the Esquart and removing the flat and putting on (as Lizzie called it) the "Smurf-sized spare." I'm just glad I had my flashlight, and that I didn't reenact that climactic scene from "The Christmas Story" -- "Fuuuuuudge!"

$350 and a latte and a large coffee later, I have 4 new tires. I needed 'em anyway, so it all worked out okay. And I was only 15 minutes late on the route! I was totally holding my breath the last mile or two, worrying about the Hot-Wheel spare tire. Such is the life of a freelancer... I may be picking up some extra work with a former employer, by the way, so that should help. Still no news on substitute teaching. That could be a good thing.

So anyway. About the writing. Went backwards a bit yesterday, working way too late at night on revisions to a Wannoshay novelette, "Skin and Blood." I chopped about 1k from that story, and gave it a much better ending, and sent it out again, lifting me up to 23 subs out there! Whew. I also entered in my edits to chapter 17, bringing me up to chapter 18 and (counting on my fingers now) 7 chapters to go until completion.

The goal is one chapter a day from now 'til next week. I want a draft done before we leave for Ocracoke next Thursday morning. I think I can do it. BUt I need to get started today. I think I'm gonna have to move back inside, though. The flies are mean as crap here on the back deck! Later.

Now Reading:
Rabid Transit,The Ratbastards

Now Playing:
Jazz, NC Central's radio station

Today's Quote:
Lisa was nodding in agreement, surprising Skin. She was tougher than he'd thought, and then he thought of the baby. He understood where she got her strength. They couldn't run away like the Indians had, and they couldn't let any more Wannoshay suffer the same fate as the one Lisa had seen that day. There were answers up there, and Skin knew they had to start looking.

Picking up his keys on their way outside, he turned off the porchlight and stepped out into the darkness with Lisa. The stars came to life above them, and Skin stared until he found a constellation that looked familiar. Probably the Big Dipper, maybe Orion. He vowed learn them all, soon.

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