The reading Saturday went well. River came along with Heather, and he was altogether adorable, as usual. I read the first chapter of Poison Sleep and a fight scene from Dead Reign (Marla vs. Death!) and answered some questions and signed some books. Afterward I met Ray Garton, who had a reading after mine, so that was cool!

Even cooler: Heather and I got to go out on a date! Heather's mom babysat River while we went out for sushi and a movie. We ordered way too much fish, and actually had two little rolls left over that we physically couldn't finish. It was a fantastic meal. Then we went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which was cute and vulgar and funny (if, well, ultimately rather forgettable).

Life chugs along. I've gotten a couple of responses to Grift Sense (or whatever it's called) from first readers, and the gist seems to be that the structure holds together pretty well but has a few rotten or splintered or squeaky planks that need to be repaired. Not as bad as I'd feared! The biggest thing is that one subplot is a little underpowered, and I need to make it have more bearing on the main plot if possible -- fortunately, I think I see a way to do that. I'm waiting to hear from a few more readers, and I'll revise it next weekend, and turn it in, and that'll be that. (Unless my editor wants big changes, which is always possible.)

River gets a physical today, and if he checks out, he goes to the hospital on Friday for another bout of anesthesia and an eye pressure check. It's hard not to get depressed about that -- he gets so groggy and out of sorts for a day or two afterward, and it's sad to lose our happy bouncy baby, even for a little while. I just hate doing it to him. Plus, if his eyes still look bad, they'll probably operate again, which is too depressing to even contemplate. You'd think I'd be used to this by now... but I'm not. Don't know if I ever will be.