Can I just say how…

Can I just say how delighted I am to be writing this novel? I'm starting to get to the point where I have a decent sense of what'll be happening next, which makes the writing flow much more smoothly. And I'm learning who the characters are -- or, more accurately, defining who they are, with every word that goes down on the page. And the more defined they get, the easier they become to write, because I start really being able to hear them. Kate, in particular, is becoming clearer and clearer to me right now; she's sort of vaguely modelled on L'Engle's Calvin O'Keefe, though not as super-bright. But intelligent, solid, and on some deep level, maybe even wise. She works as a great foil for Swati, who is more superficially bright and sparkly, but has some major weaknesses running through her character. Meg-like, in some ways, in fact.

I'm getting fond of these girls, which is good, and I'm able to take this story anywhere I want to, which is great. It was fun writing the CYO books, but I was being edited very closely, and I couldn't go certain places I would have liked to go, and I had to go places that didn't interest me so much. I'm not unhappy with the books; I like how they turned out. But they're only four-fifths or so mine. And maybe, in the end, an editor will come along and do the same thing to this book -- but not yet. Right now it's mine, mine, all mine. And I'm just feeling very grateful to be at this place in my career where I have the experience/skill to be able to take a stab at a novel, at the same time that Kevin is making it possible (by feeding and housing me) for me to focus on writing it, without worrying about finding a summer day job. Yay, timing. Yay, Kevin.

Yes, I still have credit card debt. But much less than I did a year ago, thanks to the CYO books. And what's left, will keep. I have a book to write. Maybe more than one. :-)

What's that saying again? "Life is uncertain, so eat dessert first!"

Maybe it should be "Life is uncertain, so write your books first!"

..and eat dessert. Of course.