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I am officially too tired to still be working. How do I know this? It’s taken me two attempts to get a stick of gum out of a pack, because I keep putting the still wrapped pieces down somewhere and then losing track of them. I got on-line briefly to try and think about the fight scene that’s up on my screen. My brief time on-line turned into nearly an hour. I was upset with myself for wasting so much time when I’m so tired, and then I realized that I honestly had come up with a better idea for the fight choreography. Apparently, I really did need to step away from the work computer for a bit. But there is always a slim line between stepping away from the keyboard to refresh your mind and pure procrastination. So, such breaks must always be viewed with suspicion.

I started the day with Christmas music which means that the writing is going very slowly. I was finally able to move to musicals late in the day, which is a step up from holiday music, but when I’m still listening to musicals at 1AM, then the writing is still hard going. You’ve heard of pulling sentences out of thin air, well hard going means I’m pulling sentences out of thick, messy mud. It is exhausting and ultimately discouraging even if you make progress on the book. I am sick of every musical I own now. I don’t think there’s any music that would please me at this point, but did you ever notice that “Brigadoon” has some very long dance numbers that are riveting on stage, but not very interesting with just audio? Or is that just me?

I have had the last cup of tea I want for the day. I’m drinking water, because I need something to hydrate me, not because I want it. I have thrown out seventeen pages of the last two days work, and the book is better for it, but this close to the deadline it is a hard thing to have to trash nearly twenty pages. But the book is finally moving forward again, and the pages had taken us down a very dark and very blind alley, so I can’t regret not following it all the way down a very gloom-filled rabbit hole.

Jon had stayed in his office through the weekend and Monday’s late night sessions in case I needed anything, but he woke tired this morning. Yeah, me, too, but I’ve got to stay up and write the book. So Meerkat, friend, and assistant was tapped and is in her office next door while I toil away here. She’s already given me a pep talk and made tea until I don’t want anymore of either. There isn’t enough caffeine on the planet to keep me wide-eyed and bushy-tailed at this point. But when I keep misplacing sticks of gum before I can unwrap them and chew their pepperminty goodness up, well, it’s time to go to bed. I have a few more pages done, and a better handle on the plot. I think it’s the best I’m going to get tonight. And “Brigadoon” does have some nearly endless dance numbers that just drag without visuals to match the audio. I’m taking it off the musical play list tomorrow.