Big old tenterhooks. From my agent, in re the 4-6 proposal:

I think at this point it's just a matter of getting approval for whatever offer it is she wants to make. I'm nudging her for details. With any luck I can manage to turn your lunch into a celebratory one.

Nice if she's right.

Also, Fed Ex hasn't shown up with the manuscript of "Matty Groves" yet. I'm out of here at 9 tomorrow morning. Eep!

Damn, Deb! Sure hope it gets there.

Photo #8. (Nope, not tired of these things yet.)

That’s great-aunt Georgeane standing next to grandmother. They didn’t look much alike. Georgeane had a belly-busting laugh that filled the room; grandmother just smiled politely at a joke. Great-aunt’s appetite was legendary. Her son, Matthew, says he’d seen her clear off a platter of pancakes stacked 16 high! I’m surprised you see her in a dress in this picture. Usually, you’d find her in one of great-grandpa’s pairs of overalls, workboots and a kerchief on her head. She ran the farm for years, after great-grandpa died. She had to when Grandma ran away with the piano tuner to the city.

Matty has arrived. Breathing way easier.

Sail, these things are acting like creative rose and exotic flower food for you. It's lovely to watch; it's lovely to read.

I just got a total stranger on lj all excited about my book...now, granted, it was sort of fish in a barrel, with the Perv in it, as far as Homicide fans go...murder police being to us like tits in a frat house, but hey, this time last year, it didn't exist.

Oh, copyediting experts! Which is correct?

"Don't worry," she said. "He calls all men papa."

or

"Don't worry," she said. "He calls all men 'papa'."

I'd go with the second.

I'd also say the second.

Yes, 'tis the second.

Thanks, y'all. That's what I thought, but it looked funny.

It does look funny. I choose the 1st, on looks alone, so don't pay any attention to me.