1 - number of days I slept in this week. Bad Monday! I made up for it by getting up at 4:30 this morning.

2 - number of novels in manuscript I'm reading (plus a novelette from another writer friend). Free books by my friends! I love it.

3 - number of times I've read this fine essay by Greg Frost about writing. Greg's a wonderful writer and fantastic teacher (he was the Writer-in-Residence during week 3 at Clarion the year I went, 1996). I love this part of the essay, when he says that writing is "a process of envisioning events vaguely in my mind’s theater, and then writing down what I see/experience." Nice! I've been trying to do that as I revise my novel -- really seeing/hearing/experiencing each scene -- and it's helped a ton. Just adding the odd detail here and there, and replacing weak verbs and nouns with livelier ones.

4 - number of chapters I have left in my revision of my Sixteen Miles novel! It's coming along great, and all those niggling plotlines are coming together, with a modest amount of wrestling and tying off on my part. It's actually been pretty fun.

5 - the minimum number of times I've bragged about Drew's new playset, not counting my journaling here. Hey, I'm really happy it all came together so nicely! And I actually used power tools, without and injuries.

6 - number of bucks (plus ninety-nine cents!) you'll need to pay for T.A. Pratt's new novel Blood Engines from Amazon.com. 'Round these parts, we call T.A. "Tim" for short, and he's written a wonderful, wildly creative book about magic, violence, and wizards, set right here in the modern world (not some made-up Middle-Earth!). Check out the web site for Marla Mason, Tim's kick-ass protagonist (and you'll see more of Marla and her crew, as the book is first in a series).

7 - exact number of weeks until Mitch arrives! It's so nice knowing exactly when the little guy will be here (he's coming via c-section), so we can plan accordingly. We've got Drew set up in his big-boy room, so his old baby room is officially Mitch's room. We're working on painting it right now.

8 - number of Tim Powers books I have to read yet. I feel both excited and overwhelmed. His books are fantastic reads, but also challenging. But I always learn a lot from them, both about history and about writing. Next up is Drawing of the Dark.

9 - I can't think of any more numbered entries.

10 - Later!