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I took yesterday off. I’ve found that I need one day on the weekend to rest my mind so I can sit down on Monday eager to work rather than dreading it. I used to work seven days a week to help me stay in the book. But I was burning out, so I tried to force myself to take the whole two days off. That drove me crazy, and hurt the momentum of the current book. I can take a day off and come back to the current project without loosing ground, but two days is too much. I loose track, and it can take me two or even five days to get back to the rhythm I had before the break. This little peculiarity of mine when I’m working on a book is one of the reasons that touring is so difficult for me. It doesn’t just break my rhythm, it destroys it.

But I don’t have to tour anytime soon. I just have to write A LICK OF FROST, and keep working on the afternoon project. I can’t even tell you what it is, yet. As soon as I can give you guys details, I will. But until then, let’s just say that if I get my four pages or more done in the morning then there’s something different in the afternoon. If I don’t get my four pages, then I get back to that after lunch. Extra projects can only be worked on if the main book that is due next doesn’t loose ground. I am about 170 pages into A LICK OF FROST. So, good progress.

I have one of the orchids from the conservatory up here in my office. When the orchids bloom we set them around the house so they can be seen. This one has two double spikes in this wonderful shade of purple/pink veined throughout the flower. It’s spectacular. It reminds me why I wanted the conservatory in the first place. It’s always good to be reminded of why you did something that turned out to be harder than you thought it would be. If you’ve ever built onto your house, you know what I mean. Sometimes you need to remember why a task was worth all the effort. The orchid reminds me. I guess, in a way, that the new office reminds me every day that the writing is worth it. That even on my darkest day of work, there is nothing I’d rather do. Now I get to do it in this amazing room that I helped design. The only thing that would make the view more amazing would be to put the ocean or a good sized lake outside to look at, but that’s a little too ambitious even for my landscaper. Okay, I’m told the skyline of Paris is pretty nifty too, but I’m not getting that view either. You can’t have everything. Frankly, I never dreamed I’d get to stare out at the tops of trees from my own little aerie.

I’ve actually worked two days on the new computer at my main desk. I’m still doing most of the work at my secondary computer at the smaller desk, but it’s a start. Today, I worked on the smaller computer, but I’m blogging from the big computer. This is actually the second blog I’ve done from the new computer, too. I’ve been blogging from the computer in the kitchen, because I had to get used to the new tech, I guess. But hey, it’s progress.

For those who keep asking what music I’m working to, today was AUDIOSLAVE with a little SEETHER at the beginning of the work session. Usually these are both Anita music, but for some reason it just worked for Merry today. I’ve learned not to question why my muse wants one kind of music or the other. When a lady is happy, don’t question it, just remember what music put her in the mood. And buy more of it.