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I’d had one of those days when I felt like I hadn’t accomplished anything. No pages, just notes, and that restless, uncomfortable feeling that always gives me. I was doing myself no good, when Charles knocked on the door to say hello. We’d finally gotten the box from Canada, so he’d come by to pick up his stuff. He’d made me promise that if the writing was going well, that I’d just wave and get back to work. Not a problem, the writing was so not going well.

We talked a few minutes about cars. Did you know there’s a Mustang club for every color of Mustang? I didn’t know that. Like a black Mustang club, red, etc . . . We talked about guns, which had nothing much to do with the Merry scene I was trying to write. Then he had to run and finish up errands before it was time to get his kids from their day camps. Ah, summer. But, a few minutes of talking about anything, everything that had nothing to do with what I was working on, seemed to help me think better. I know this rule, but I keep needing to be reminded of it. What rule? That sometimes when the writing is kicking your ass, do something else. Agatha Christie claimed she got her best ideas while doing the dishes. Do something different, even for a few minutes, and sometimes it clears the cobwebs. To Jon and Darla I would have complained about how badly the writing was going and moaped. Most of my friends that I might call in the middle of the morning would be other writers. If they had time to talk, and were not writing, I’d have talked about writing. Talking about the scene would not have helped. I needed something different. I’d been fighting all morning not to go do something different. I should have listened to myself, but sometimes that’s what friends are for, they’re to remind you that there’s more to life than a computer and words on screen.

I was able to outline the final fight scene after the happy interruption. I rarely outline in this much detail, but this is a fight we’ve been working towards for seven books, this being the seventh. Seven books of build up, so I’ll plan this one out. Tomorrow I tackle it. Tomorrow there will be death. Tomorrow there will be pain and tears and payback. Tomorrow I’ll get to kill people, on paper, at least. I find the thought strangely satisfying. But I knew that I needed the scene to simmer overnight like a good stew.

Writing group tonight. I’m finishing up reading Sharon Shinn’s latest. One of the best things about being in the Alternate Historians is getting to read everyone’s stuff early. This was a good day for editing other people’s work, because mine isn’t ready yet. Though, I am putting a short piece through the writing group tonight. My first one in years to go through.