9:40: Chapter 7 done. Time for a quick prairie walk, try to shake some of the kinks out.
11:00 � walked for 45 minutes, felt great, got sweaty. Talked to Roshani about a political problem in the text while walking, also checked in with Kev and the kids, also took photos. Came back, showered, posted photos, more tea and lunch, back to work.
1:00 � went to the beach again. Just for 45 minutes this time, and the water was even colder � I had to really nerve myself to dive in, and then the shock of it almost sent me scurrying out again. But still, glad I went. Icy water and baking sun and moving my body and basking all help to put life back into me that hours at the computer drains out. Back to work.
3:00 � 40,000 words in. 30,300 words to go. Probably not going to finish today, but it�s okay. What�s better than okay is that I am rediscovering that I love this book. It�s much better than I remembered. I wrote it a few years ago, sent it out, didn�t sell it, and now I�m revising again, tightening it up, making it better. And yes, there were some things to tighten, some clarifications to make. But mostly, the book is already good.
I wanted it to be a book like the ones I loved growing up � A Wrinkle in Time, The Hobbit, Taran Wanderer. And I also wanted to write something that took the war in Sri Lanka, with the so-common ideals of true blood and heroism, and really pushed at them in interesting ways. A book that took war seriously, that showed the generational cost to communities and cultures, in a way that I think fantasy novels too often skim over. Reading this whole book now, out loud � I�m happy. I think it�s doing what I wanted it to do. I hope people get a chance to read it.