"Gone were the soft consonants and liquid vowels he had acquired growing up in the delta. Life, that hard bitch, driving him north and midwest, had muddied his pristine dialect, had eroded the cadences of his childhood even as it stripped him of other attributes and beliefs he'd steeped in as he grew to adolescence"?

Erm, he was sort of a teabag of regional accent, I guess.

As an early Christmas present to myself, I have rationalized my way out of taking a pinch hit.

"Yes, you just reread those books, but she wants a story focused on someone who's not your favorite character. It's probably already taken. Just be happy you managed to write one story."

As an early Christmas present to myself, I have rationalized my way out of taking a pinch hit.

I'm going through all the pinch hits right now, deleting everything I can't do, and keeping all the things I might possibly be able to write in 24 hours.

I really shouldn't take one, but we'll see.

I have one that I've kept in my inbox, but I'm rationalizing really hard.

And keeping an eye on the ones that are still dropping.

I'm being pretty ruthless. I really won't have much internet access this weekend.

I offered two, but they're two of the earlier ones, so there's a chance one or both will have been taken by now. But I can definitely do both, so it's okay if I get them both. I'll just... not leave the house for the next three days.

Oh, god. Apparently I have judged myself capable to write at least 12 of these pinch hits. I think I will offer on one or two. Maybe. Oh, god.

Good thing you got your shopping done.

See, I don't know any of that crazy manga stuff. It limits my options.

Same here. It's like there's two or three different challenges going on at the same time, you know?