The day is much…

The day is much improved. I watched a few recorded sit-coms; Frasier was particularly good. I wasn't getting sleepy, though my mood was improving. So around 6:30 I turned off the tv and made two eggs over easy, toast, tea, hot and sweet and milky. A fortifying breakfast. I lit a few candles to help me focus, put on some music (an Elgar cello concerto), and then opened up a story file. An hour later, I've finished second draft revisions on the story (now called "Tightness in the Chest") -- yay! I've copied it into the dissertation manuscript, and I think it's basically ready to send out too. I have rejections sitting on my desk from Yale Review and Kenyon Review, so I suspect one of them will get this. Will have to check the submission list. It'll be good to send a few stories out soon -- that's what I'll work on next.

It's very motivating, having the dissertation manuscript laid out. This is what the TOC looks like right now:

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Bodies in Motion

(very tentative title)

Part One - The Journey Inwards

• * Savitha
• Minal in Winter
• * Bodies in Motion
• * Ramesh's Story
• * The Light at Dawn
• * Lulu's Husband
• * Lakshmi's Diary
• * Colombo, Oxford, Boston, Chicago
• * Pieces of the Heart
• * The Princess in the Forest

Part Two - The Return

• Seven Cups of Water
• * Sister Mary
• Raksha's Story (unwritten)
• * A Gentle Man
• * The Emigrant
• Ashok's Story (unwritten)
• Vincent's Story (unwritten)
• Tightness in the Chest
• * Challah
• Monsoon Day

Genealogy (for reference -- contains spoilers)

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The starred items are the unrevised; as you can see, I have quite a few revisions left to do. I'm not entirely sure all of these will make it in -- I'm pretty sure "Challah" will be cut, and possibly the entire "Ramesh's Story", "The Light at Dawn", "Lulu's Husband" sequence (in part because they're weaker stories, in part because they draw a little too specifically on some actual events in someone else's life; stories I don't have permission to tell). It's hard for me to tell what should stay and what should go -- but that's why I'm putting this together for Katie and Francois -- so they can see the overall shape and help me do some appropriate pruning and restructuring. I'm excited about it, though!

I think I'll work on "Colombo..." next -- if I remember right, it's pretty close to done too, and I'm going from more finished to less finished, so I can give them as many stories in final shape as I can, given the time constraints. I'm not going to drive myself crazy, trying to rewrite all of them in time -- I've been working so hard for so long, that I not only want to take it easier for a while -- I need to. So I will. :-)