So what's the deal with Carmen? Is it good to go, or are you waiting for a letter from new!editor?

And yay for cruising!

Waiting for letter from new!editor, but when we spoke on the phone the other day, she said that there weren't any major revisions, just little clarifications here and there, so hopefully, it won't be too traumatic. Plus, I have a 3/15 delivery date anyhow, so plenty of time overall. Of course, I want to get it in to them as early as possible, so we can keep on track, but since they bought it as a full book, it's not as if they have to wait for me to finish the thing. Yay!

What about you? April 1, right?

Yup. April 1.

Somehow April Fool's Day doesn't seem like the best choice for a deadline, though.

It's better than the January 2 deadline I had when Carmen was with the Publisher Who Will Not Be Named.

I managed to get chapter 30 done. Chapter 31 is underway. My wife checks over my chapters before I finalize them (finalize for this revision, not final final) and she wants me to get this one done soon because there is sex.

I know the general rule is no fanfic in here, but I couldn't resist. For "Bite,"

Claire took some deep cleansing breaths and visualized herself giving a good reading.Ironically, it would be easier if her publisher hadn't wanted to support the paperback reissue of "Ordinary Cupid" quite so much, because she now had a wannabe publicist, a nervous, black-clad, twenty-something named Natasha.

"Don't freak out," Natasha advised her.

"I'm not freaked out," Claire replied, but suddenly her smile felt frozen in place.

"Well, it's just that there's some maniac offering vibrator coupons in the Twilight section...we could get rid of him if you want."

"No! Uh, what I meant was, that is probably a cry for help...we should be compassionate."

"You're the doctor,"Natasha replied, doubt written all over her tone and body language.

Claire's doubt was instantly dispelled, when a beloved voice called out "Make way ladies, for an actual, sparkle-free supernatural being. Although I have been known to bite, if you ask nicely."

"Well, I never,"a women wearing a T-shirt that said "I'd Leave Him For Edward," sputtered.

"I know...it shows. Between that lovely T-shirt and theMrs. Field's Frequent Buyer card you think no one sees in your purse."

I'm still working on Chapter 31, hopefully I'll get it done tonight or tomorrow night. I let my wife take a look at the dramatic scene in the chapter since she wanted to read it sooner. Normally, I wait until I'm "done" with a chapter before handing it off to anyone. She had a number of suggestions but nothing that greatly changed it, so I don't feel a need to start over from scratch. I'll probably use a good number of the suggestions though, I thought they were pretty good. Far and away better than the rough draft.

Now to continue with the journey to the ruins at the base of the Dead Mountain, and hopefully pull off a sense of increasing misery and apprehension as they close in. Also, I'm hoping to have the reader eager to see when the shoe that they know is hanging out there finally drops. We'll see if I can pull it off.

erika, I like that - especially the ending.

Oh, dear God. This hacking away at big chunks of my dissertation for hours at a time is depressing, to say the least. Let's hope the most useful and well-written parts survive the chop.

Thanks, Seska. I'm glad it worked.

This hacking away at big chunks of my dissertation for hours at a time is depressing, to say the least. Let's hope the most useful and well-written parts survive the chop.

I hope it goes well.