I'm way behind on novel-writing, of course. I was talking (enthusing) to Bob this morning about Kate Bachus's writing, and mentioned in passing that I was way behind on everything, and he said that I should immediately drop everything else and go back to writing my novel. It's his job to say that, but it's also almost true. I have to do the other batch of academic job apps tonight; that's the most urgent thing. And if I'm going to (again) try to find something cool to wear from the Indian neighborhood for my author photo (which will be taken on Thursday), I need to do that in the next few days. And tomorrow I've agreed to volunteer all day on the phones, trying to get people to get up off their butts and go vote, since I can't actually vote myself. I have to do something. So all of those are more urgent this week. But the writing is important, and will also be done.
The goal is to catchup on the ten days I missed, which means that for the next ten days, I should ideally write 4000 words a day. That may be over-ambitious, and I'm still groggy and recovering from travel today, so I'm just going to aim for 2000 words today. I also need to stop downtown and pick up a copy of Mohsin Hamid's Mothsmoke from a friend before 5 today (so that I can read it before I meet him in a few weeks), so I have that time constraint. But hopefully I can ramp up tomorrow.
I'm getting happier with the book; Susan Lee and Dan P and Jed have all given feedback on the second section, and while they have quibbles galore, essentially, it's working for them. Yay! If I can just resist the urge to put my head down on this lovely broad wooden cafe table and take a nap, I should be able to get some good writing done this afternoon.
Oh, and World Fantasy was a good convention, if tiring. I had a great reading -- the most-attended I've ever had at a convention, I think, which was probably due in part to the dearth of programming. :-) I read "Flowers and Branches" and the beginning of "Minal in Winter," and people really seemed to like them both. And I met a fan who had actually bought and read all of Silence and the Word, which was very exciting, since I had sort of thought that the only people who had actually read it were the ones I persuaded to proofread it for me. :-)
But the highlight of the convention for me was seeing two of my Clarion classmates again, Rob Furey and Susan Jett, for the first time in seven years. There were actually nine of my Clarion class there overall, the most we've ever had at a convention, and it was more than a little emotional to be together again. It's funny, how you don't realize how much you bonded until afterwards...sometimes years afterwards. I love those guys.