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Seventeen pages today. It’s the start of Merry #7. I’ve begun the debate with everyone in New York on what the title will be. I’ll let you guys know when the title is solid.
I knew I needed more vacations; more time off. I was feeling so burned out before Jon and I left, that I thought I’d need weeks, or months of recoup time, but seven days was enough. At the end of it, Jon and I were ready to come home and eager to get back in our routine. My friend Shawn, yes the policeman, says, that being ready to come home and eager to go back to work means you have had just the right amount of vacation.
We enjoyed England five years ago, and Jon and I loved Italy, two years ago, but I think part of the challenge for me with both trips is the flying phobia. Each European trip ended with eight, or more hours on a plane. I think it takes the edge off my relaxing. But also, Italy, especially, was business. Jon and I had only three days; one in Milan, and two in Rome, to do none-businessy stuff. We loved meeting our Italian and British publishers. The Italians really took good care of us for our stay. The Brits only got to see us briefly, since England was a family vacation, and we protected that fact from getting too business oriented. The trip to Italy was primarily a business trip, with only a little vacation stuck in, which meant we put business first and pleasure second. It’s why the trip to England was a vacation and the trip to Italy was not. Both had some lovely relaxing moments, but the orientation was different.
I think, unless I get my phobia of airplanes well in hand, that I need a vacation within the continental United States. I’m still hoping for more European trips, but I think it’s the plane that just takes the shine off the happy for me. Damn phobias. I am getting better, really. But there’s better, and then there’s okay with more than eight hours on an airplane. That better, I’m not.
I had one of those weekends that women get. When I was full of ideas for what we could do today. Errands, tasks, all that busy work that you don’t do during the week. But I knew why the mood, because I had just taken off the most time I’d taken off in the last oh, twenty years. So, I was almost frantic with needing to ‘DO’ something. But Trinity wanted a lazy Saturday, which means relaxing around the house. She’s been at school, which is her work, all week. She’s allowed time off. Jon wanted to sit at his computer and veg today. Only I wanted to WORK.
They would have done what I wanted. I could have made them both do errands and all sorts of workie things. But, I explained my mood to Jon, and told him, “I’m going to take my mood to my office and use it there.” He thanked me, both for understanding my mood and using it to good purpose that didn’t involve him or the kiddo. So, they get to do what they want this Saturday, and I get to do what I want. My mood wasn’t about certain goals, or tasks, it was about any goal, any task. I just had to accomplish something. And I did. Seventeen pages for the first time I have sat down to Merry #7. I started by typing in the notes I made on the plane ride home, but have far exceeded the notes.
When you sit down the first time out of the box, and get this many pages, the book is ready to go. Merry’s voice is clear in my head like a bell. The men; Doyle, Rhys, and Sholto on stage so far, are working. I’m having a little trouble with Sholto, but then he hasn’t been in every book, so he doesn’t talk as clearly in my head. But we’ll fix that, either in this book, or the next. Yeah, we’ll fix it.
I listened to my usual music today. Everything from Hoobastank, Revis, to Evanescence. But I’m writing this blog to Christmas music. One, I’m tired, and two, my muse was going, aren’t we done? When your muse begins to whine, and she’s been so very good, I got out the Yuletide songs to get my muse and me through just a little more writing. Besides, the album is too fun. It’s AN EVEN SCARIER SOLSTICE from the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society. So many fun parodies of favorite Christmas songs, but I think my favorite has got to be, “Harley Got Devoured by the Undead,” which is based on, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,”, it’s just too much fun.
They’ve also put music to a Lovecraft poem, “A Brumalian Wish.” Lovecraft for the holidays. Ho, ho, ho.
My muse is letting me know that if I want her to show up tomorrow, I need to stop now. So that’s it from me today. A good start, no, a wonderful beginning.