Kessie, I've had zero - and I do mean zero - time to do anything. We've just added "painting two of the three rooms of our kitchen this weekend" to the Hell Brew of Death. I forget that painting would require taking down everything on the damned walls, and then washing them.

btdt, well actually sidewalk superintended, Deb. It sucked and blew.

Our house is a Victorian - the kitchen's main room has a 10-foot ceiling, the sunporch has an 11-foot ceiling. The two rooms area to be painted is 900 square feet.

I've been scrubbing the damned walls for days, unscrewing things, taking pictures down, knife racks down, pot racks down. Nic needs to go get some spackle and some wood filler. We discovered a crack in the upper kitchen window (it only looks out onto the sunporch, so not a problem for weather reasons), but yeesh. More stress.

This is why I had to sit down and write eight pages yesterday: I had no time to work all week. Writers group tonight.

I'm impressed that you could do that. But I did get a page written today(tiny, minor, victory lap)

erika, I'm one of those sickening people: I write really fast. Plainsong took six weeks; And Then Put Out The Light took about nine, I think.

That's not a boast. It's just this weirdassed organic thing going on.

edit: and BTW, I do not diss the creation of one great page. Believe me, I don't.

Well, I just wish I could...maybe if it was my ass if I didn't get done, but there've not been deadlines lately, and I don't think it's healthy to do that purposefully too many times...it is what I thought the group would give, if they weren't complete lamers.ETA: Or, spin, maybe I'm the Pembleton of Dialogue. "Please don't be an idiot. Thank you." Yeah, I'm so brilliant.

Erika: Insent! And thanks again very much!

Deb: Its ok! I was just afraid that the summary was so bad that it turned everyone off and everyone was afraid to tell me.

Kessie - definitely not. It's just that I'm so behind on what I already promised to do (Deena, I'm hanging my head in shame), that I don't want to promise-and-not-keep anything to anybody else.

All the "writing" I've done since being on bedrest and getting this laptop has been a handful of freelance resume and cover letter projects. Which is nice because they pay, but I'm starting to doubt I'll be touching either of the novels again until May, which is depressing.

OK, Kessie...how demanding of a beta do you want? It helps me to ask...I'll know whether to get out my fine-toothed comb or not.