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.

I'm seeing the great value of multiple sources of feedback. My beta exchange person is baffled by some stuff I thought I inferred pretty strongly. I need to see if other readers make the connections or not. I don't want to insult the reader by explicitly pointing out stuff, but I don't want to lose them either.

It may just be a problem with reading in parts though.

Drabble: bite

I make brownies from scratch for the company potlucks. They are quick and easy and inexpensive, one of the first recipes I learned when I was a child, and still a favorite.

It is vital each batch be tested. Don't you agree?

They are still warm from the oven, only just now cool enough to eat. Lift one carefully, admire the texture. Savor the heady aroma of cocoa, the crunch of teeth through pecans, the soft collapse of butter and sugar melting on the tongue.

Don't be greedy. Take only one. Make it last, one small bite at a time.

Oh man, now I want cookies! I deserve cookies. I've been sorting, donating, delegating, culling, and packing for frelling weeks. Those cookies sound amazing, dcp. I can almost smell and taste 'em!

I'm through chapter 31, just a bit of finalizing to do. However, I'm debating if I should have a little chapter from the Rainier POV between 29 and 30. It's just a bit of reflection on how events have not been kind to him and some self-doubt. Now that I say what's in it, I'm less inclined to add it, hmmm.... Maybe I'll skip it and see if it seems needed later.

Hopefully, 31 will go down tonight and I can get to 32 and 33 which gets me to another big plot event.

As I have passed the halfway point in terms of my desired word count, I now am getting nervous about running over in getting to the end. There is at least one major plot cut I'm going to make, but I'm not sure it will be enough. I think I'll have to look at the beginning chapters (1 - 12) to see if I can compress the plot there too. Balancing detail, plot, and word count is going to be tough.