I'm feeling pretty brain-fried right now, after about two weeks of more or less non-stop busy-ness. I may as well just go home and call it a day. It's never a good day when it starts out with a trip to the doctor... More on that in a bit.

First off, work is nuts, as I'm trying to rewrite a course and make it about fifty times better than last year's version, while dodging all sorts of BS from people about various editing and template crap. I catch myself thinking about work when I'm walking the dog or trying to get to sleep, and that sucks. That's just wrong, man!

I've also been working like mad on the novel revisions, and I did my final spell-check this morning. Now all I have to do is read through the whole book this weekend... I must say, I'm about burned out on this book. I still like it quite a bit, especially now that I've revised it per my editor's great input, but man -- running through about 80,000 words in a week and a half is tough on a guy. Even Shakespeare's best stuff would look questionable under those conditions...

Speaking of editors, I can't say enough good things about mine at Five Star. As for other novel editors, welk... they deserve a good grumble or three from my direction. I'm still waiting on responses on four different novels, and granted, one has only been out for six weeks or so, but some of them have been out (all of them in their entirety) for over half a year! I can't tell you how often I check email and voicemail, or how badly I anticipate the daily snailmail...

Having said that, I probably just set myself up for four rejections...

And finally, since I'm griping...

Elizabeth and I both have been stressing (unnecessarily, it turns out) about Drew's latest ear infection. He was running the occasional low-grade fever (he'd get the sweats all of a sudden, maybe once a day), and was just a bit irritable, which he rarely is, so we decided to take him back to the doc. I got an early appointment today, and both ears were clear of infections (yay!), though they did both have fluid in them (not a bad thing, but could become problematic if it leads to another infection).

But man -- and this is probably why I'm in a crappy mood today -- he just SCREAMED when the nurse practitioner, and then, a few minutes later, the doctor, stuck their doohickie in his right ear. Apparently, that one's pretty irritated yet. Poor kid screamed bloody murder. Like I said, not a great way to start off the day. But by the time we got to the babysitter's, he was zonked out and peaceful. Poor little fella!

Can I just say that I'm really ready for this work day to be OVER. Can't wait to see Lizzie and Drew again, and just hang out with them, with no WORK of any kind hanging over our heads...

As a reward for finishing the heavy-lifting portion of my novel edits, I ordered a signed, first edition of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys from Clarkesworld Books. I'm this close to finishing American Gods, and need to find the novella follow-up, "Monarch of the Glen." Also, just because Clarkesworld is so damn cool, and because I wanted to, I picked up Graham Joyce's TWOC as well. So there... Take that, crappy Friday!

And the astute readers will note that I wrote this entry at the end of the month, where it will soon get buried by October entries. I can safely say that I'm glad to see the end of September arrive. Later!

UPDATE: I was so busy wallowing in my own misery, I forgot to wish happy anniversay to Cat-Mar and Paul, as well as pre-wedding wishes to Heather and Tim! May the road continue to rise to meet you, y'all!