The Beginning of the Hard Work

Here lies my opus. 258 pages of words all written by me! It's still very strange. I flick through it and read random phrases -- ("He backed up against the wall..." // "...could recite them in his sleep..." // "She loved that he was asking..." // "...smudgy with dirt, dust, and cobwebs..." // "...the more he saw himself through her eyes..") -- and I can't remember writing some of them, or am not sure what scene it's in, or what's going on. I see one page filled with words and think, "How the hell did I write 258 of these?!"

Still, it's all good. But now is where the hard work starts. First I need to read the whole thing in one go, preferably in one sitting, to see if the story, characters, and scenes flow naturally. I will have to try my hardest not to make any changes on that read... After that I'll go into editing mode (Nell, you'll be my life-raft, you know you will!) and start shaping it into its final form.

Gulp.

The Big News

Yes, it's true, it's not a joke...

I have finished my book!

I really didn't know how this would feel.

I didn't know that as I saved the chapter and worked out my final word count (slightly under, but hey, I'll be editing soon anyway) I would laugh, and feel a bit like crying because I felt so happy.

I didn't know that, as I climbed the stairs to the bathroom after being surgically attached to my laptop for the last three hours solid while drinking cups of green tea, I suddenly wouldn't care if I sold my book at all.

That second one is the weird one. Of course I care if I sell my book -- I really want to, and who wouldn't? But I just had this weird feeling come over me that, even if I didn't sell the book, it wouldn't matter. What matters is that all my life, and more particularly over the last five years, I have wanted to write a book.

And now I've done it.

Even if it doesn't sell, even if I never do anything else or write anything else, even if I -- God forbid -- get knocked down by a bus tomorrow, I wrote and finished a book after always saying I wanted to do it. I know that I've written on here that one of my life goals is to write a book and have it published/see it on the shelf in a bookstore etc., but even just the writing and finishing seems like the fulfilment of a goal in itself.

Weird.

I don't know quite how I'm going to celebrate yet. I'll let you know. In the meantime, thank you to anybody who has read this blog, left me comments, followed my progress, given me help, advice, inspiration -- anything. I hope the journey to the finish line wasn't too painful.

Seven Things...

I've been tagged by Nell again -- this time for a "Sevens" list, so here it is:

Seven things to do before I die:
1. Get a book published.
2. Go to New York.
3. Lay to rest my regrets in life.
4. Have children.
5. Save enough money for retirement (pensions crisis = pretty scary).
6. Learn to play the drums (but I just know I'll never do this!).
7. Live somewhere in America for a while.

Seven things that attracted me to my other half:
1. His eyes.
2. The way he looked rat-pack funky in a black shirt and tie.
3. His light-hearted approach to life.
4. His kindness and generosity not just to me, but to my family as well.
5. The fact that my dog loved him on sight.
6. His 'guy' smell.
7. That something about him that makes me feel relaxed and calm, which I still can't explain.

Seven books I love most:
1. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
2. Truth or Consequences by Diana Duncan
3. The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
4. Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
5. Blood Work by Michael Connelly
6. The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman
7. Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare (I know, it's really a play...)

Seven films I love most:
1. One Fine Day
2. Hope Floats
3. Mallrats
4. Romancing the Stone
5. Stand By Me
6. Baz Luhrmann's Romeo+Juliet
7. The Goonies

Seven things I can't do:
1. Stop day-dreaming.
2. Eat at a fancy restaurant.
3. Dance in front of others without first having drunk alcohol.
4. Cook a steak to perfection.
5. Drink beer.
6. Let go of both handlebars when riding a bike.
7. The Atkins Diet. (No pasta, rice, or noodles? No chance.)

Seven words or phrases I say most often:
1. What shall we have for dinner?
2. Popple! (Usually in tone of shock, after the dog has burped.)
3. I need a new book.
4. Thank you.
5. Hi Buttmunch.
6. Simon! (Usually in tone of impatience, after I have discovered upright toilet seat.)
7. Good morning/afternoon "insert company name" .


So there we have it! These things are meant to be passed on, so I will tag anyone who reads this entry to do Sevens in a comment box.


Just finished reading: Something Blue by Emily Giffin

Maths Can be Fun

Here are some equations I came to work out after having watched the finale of Lost:

• Sawyer + tight black shirt + looking windswept on raft = Yum.
• Sawyer – tight black shirt + sudden dip in the ocean = Even more yum.
• Sawyer + night-time + looking mean, moody and threatening towards strange pirate-type people = Infinitely more yum.

HOWEVER! An anomaly surfaces...

• Sawyer + tight black shirt + ponytail + hybrid reading glasses = Strangely, yummiest of all!

See how maths can be fun?

Anyway, I have a pretty free weekend ahead of me, so I am v. excited at the prospect of getting my final chapter done and typing "The End". Also, big congrats to Nell, whose book The Cinderella Substitute is now a contender for the RNA's New Writers' Award and whose publishing date has been brought forward from July to March. Yay Nell!

Favourite New Song of the Week = Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap

Just... One... More...

I've finished chapter fifteen.

Only one to go -- yee-hah!

This does feel weird. This really *is* almost it. Just one more chapter and then I have finished a book.

I think the double-bill finale of Lost which is on tonight is a nice reward...

Lunch Break

Phew. Well, not doing too bad. I am just over halfway through chapter fifteen, and a *big round of applause* for my characters, please, because they have finally had their love scene!

Time is really flying. I swear I looked at the clock on my computer only half an hour ago and it was 11.40. Now it's 2.40.

Welcome to Writing Wednesdays

So here we are. Today I feel like I can call myself a writer and not cringe as much, because I now no longer work Wednesdays at the office, so I can spend time writing at home. God bless my lovely employers!

My plan for today consists of:

1. Not doing random "But-I'm-Researching" surfing after I've posted this blog entry.
2. Writing chapter fifteen -- the penultimate chapter (and thus getting that damn word counter on the right to change: it's been stuck way too long!).
3. Critiquing Nell's chapter six of Be My Hero.
4. Phoning back the Inland Revenue to sort out my self-employment registration (most scary part of my day, I feel).
5. Setting up my new printer and testing it out on printing the guidelines for the Moonlit Romance competition, for which I'm going to re-work an old story.

Possibly more, who knows? Today feels promising, so if the muse and the coffee (I gave the bloke a Senseo pod machine for Christmas, and it has actually made me like coffee myself) kick in, perhaps I might even get to the final chapter.

Man, that's scary!

Just finished reading: Safe Passage by Loreth Anne White

Baby, I'm Back

Christmas and New Year are now over and done with for another twelve months -- or ten, if you believe that Christmas starts when the shops designate it. I had a lovely chunk of time off, with lots of great presents (bloke gave me a laser printer!), a bunch of good books, plates of yummy food, and good times with friends. We had a New Year's Eve party which I really enjoyed, and after which we had our first overnight guests. We must have done well as host and hostess because they ended up staying an extra night!

So now it's back to the grindstone. I know I originally planned to have my book finished by Christmas, but it just didn't happen. However, with only two chapters still remaining, my new goal is to have the finished product revised and ready for submission to Silhouette in time for Valentine's Day. I thought that would be a nice marker. And as of next week I will no longer be working Wednesdays, so I will have more time to spend on finishing up and editing.

Today I have also sent off my application form and cheque to join the Romantic Novelists' Association, of which Nell is already a member. I know that she has found her membership to be very valuable and I have heard lots about the annual conference. I thought about joining the RNA in January last year, but I didn't feel like I quite "qualified" in a funny way. It's as if I didn't feel like I was quite ready, but now I feel much more serious about it.

So that's my update. And here's the list of books I consumed over the holidays:

Husbands by Adele Parks
For Her Protection by Lauren Giordano
Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard
Manhunt by Carla Cassidy
Life Swap by Jane Green

The Beauty of...

1. Broadband. We have *finally* achieved broadband status in my office, after having to deal with a no-name ISP that umm-ed and aah-ed every day on whether it would allow us to connect or not. We are now ADSL'd to the hilt and my Outlook Express polls all 12 email accounts in under 3 seconds. It also means that uploading to my blog from work takes a hell of a lot less time with a lot less keyboard-slamming on my behalf. Passers-by on the high street beneath my window now enjoy a highly reduced likelihood of having my computer flying out and landing on their head.
2. Critique partners. I have never met Nell, my CP, even though we've been working together for about three years. In that time we've shared illnesses (of both ourselves and our loved ones), hospitalizations (ditto), submissions of work, crises of faith (mine), rejections of work, job dramas, requests for work (Nell's), and even a few wonderful sales (1 of mine, 2 of Nell's). We share moans, happiness, hopes, wishes, gripes, ideas, plans, stories of woe, and dreams, and on a number of occasions I have been known to seek solace in her knowledge of relationships. This week I bought and sent her a romance by one of her favourite authors because all her local outlets were sold out, and as thanks she sent me by return another romance (signed!) with one of her gorgeous new author notecards. We've already got each other's Christmas presents under our respective trees, and flowers have been sent and received by both of us on numerous occasions in recognition of birthdays and book sales. Nell, I frequently thank God (and the eHarlequin bulletin boards) for you!
3. iTunes. So easy. So quick. So hip! The other night I browsed for and bought a bunch of songs than I had lost over the years. They were on cassette tapes I listened to repeatedly in the late nineties (or thereabouts -- essentially, my teen years) on my battered 'mega bass' Sony walkman that I hand-decorated with glittery nail varnish. The songs had usually been recorded off CDs I'd borrowed from friends or taped straight off the radio (I became an expert at hitting the pause button before the DJ could resume speaking -- if you hit pause instead of stop you didn't get loud click-off noises). As there is no godly way I know of getting something off a cassette and on to a CD, let alone an iPod, I bought almost all these songs off iTunes this week. Some were quite random and probably quite hard to come by in the shops, but for a beauteous £8.69 (or thereabouts) I managed to create for myself a no-skipping-required playlist that I would never have found on any compilation CD: "Naked" by Reef / "Runaground" by James / "If You Tolerate This, Then Your Children Will Be Next" by Manic Street Preachers / "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers / "If God Will Send His Angels" by U2 / "Kiss the Rain" by Billie Myers / "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies / "Higher Than Reason" by Unbelievable Truth / "Secret Smile" by Semisonic / "Driftwood" by Travis / "Sometimes" by James / "Don't Give Up" by Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush... *However*-- iTunes is still missing a lot of tracks (lots of notable exceptions in the movie score section), and among those I am waiting for to complete my walkmanesque playlist are "Come Back To What You Know" by Embrace and "Drinking in LA" by Bran Van 3000 (the former of which could quite possibly become the title for an idea I have been brewing on recently...). Apple -- you still have some work to do!
4. Sainsburys. Every one of their own brand products in the health and beauty department is guaranteed fully cruelty-free by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. So when we stopped off at a moosive Sainsburys in Oxford the other night, I stocked up on shampoo, body wash, hand soap, bubble bath, etc. I especially couldn't resist the Cookie Dough shower gel. Yes, it's from the kids range, but *you* try smelling it and then putting it back on the shelf.

So... there. I know I'm about a month late for Thanksgiving, but I felt like showing my gratitude for a few things, whatever they may be. Obviously I'm grateful for other things too, but do you *really* want me to continue...?

Moving Goalposts // Moving Lyrics

I found out yesterday that there's been a reshuffle at Harlequin-Silhouette and the line I am targetting now requires a lower word count. I'm heading towards the original target (80,000), so I will have to cut quite a bit when I get round to the editing stage. I don't imagine that this will be too much of a problem, though, because I do tend to be wordy and go on a bit! Isn't that right, Nell! : )

I wrapped most of my presents yesterday. Managed to catch a couple of James Blunt videos yesterday, but thankfully not the one for "You're Beautiful"; yes, he has his top off in it, but I can't really bear the song because it was so overplayed.

Have come to a decision that I can't listen to his new song, "Goodbye My Lover", without welling up. This happened while I was sitting in traffic on my way to work this morning and they played it on the Chris Moyles show on Radio 1. Thankfully I recovered my composure when Chris pronounced the title in country-bumpkin-speak: "Good-boy Moy Loh-verr", which made me laugh and, I admit, is difficult not to hear in your head when you think about it.

The song's so gut-wrenching, though! Lines like "I know you well / I know your smell / I'd spend a lifetime with you / I've watched you sleeping for a while / I'd be the father of your child / And I still hold your hand in mine in my sleep" have me practically clutching at my heart with my lower lip wobbling. (Luckily I have plenty of Kleenex pocket-packs on hand at the moment because of my cold, in case the floodgates really do open.) What makes it worse is that as I listen to it I try to imagine the story behind the song, because he loves this girl *so* much, so why does he have to say goodbye to her??

Still -- those eyes and that mouth make it hard for a girl to stop watching Mr Blunt's videos:

Fun with the Foos: Earls Court 17 December 2005

Wow.

They were *great*.

Last night the Foo Fighters were supported by, er, Eagles of Death Metal (never heard of, probably won't remember... sorry) and the Futureheads (of whom I recognized a couple of songs). Most people were still walking about, getting beers, etc while these two bands were on. Our seats were actually very good -- literally the second row from the top of the arena, but right at the front. Unfortunately we had some nuthouse people in front of us, though -- 3 guys and a girl. The guy in front of me was about seven foot tall and had really bouffant hair so when he stood up I couldn't see bugger all. He also kept holding his head in his hands and moaning as if the music was so good he couldn't take it. Hmm... Another of the guys looked pretty sleazy and reminded me of Richard the slimy hotel-owner from Sex and the City. The third bloke was an old boy with a greasy grey ponytail and an unsteady gait. He smelt heavily of pot, was swigging from a bottle of vodka inside his fleece, and kept looking like he was going to keel over. The girl of the group actually looked quite staid but didn't behave like it, and my friend Kit and I had a hard time working out just which of the guys she was actually 'with'. We decided by the end of it that it could quite possibly be all of them!

So anyway. The place literally came alive when the Foos came on and launched into "In Your Honor", the title track from their new album. The crowd filling the mosh-pit was writhing and swelling like a river and it did look like fun, but I'm actually quite glad I wasn't down there: there was a bunch of guys a few metres from the front who constantly had a large circle of empty space around them because they spent the whole time cannonballing into one another. At first we thought they were having a fight, and I was quite surprised that nobody got hurt.

Dave Grohl talked to the crowd a lot and during "Stacked Actors" he actually came off the stage and ran through the crowd to play from the little lighting booth in the middle. As he was on his way there was some confusion as to what was happening, then the spotlight came down on him and the crowd went mental. Suddenly everybody swarmed back from the stage to the middle of the arena and Dave and Chris Shiflett (second guitarist) played a guitar duel which *rocked*. It was weird because from where we were up at the top you could see all these tiny lights around Dave, which we realized were people recording the event on their mobiles. Then, while Dave made his way back to the stage Taylor Hawkins (drummer) did an amazing drum solo. Here was where my only complaint lies -- all I could see of Taylor was his hands, because there was a big cable hanging down from the lighting rig which, from my viewpoint, ran right across the drum-kit. Luckily, however, they had video screens on either side of the stage and I was just about able to see him on that. (Also, because I didn't mention him, the fourth member of the band is Nate Mendel -- bass player.)

I had a bit of a moment when it came to the time for "Everlong" -- my favourite Foos song. Dave sang it alone with just his guitar for company, and he did it really softly and gently. For some reason, not many people sang along, but those who did (including me), did it really quietly. It's such a beautiful song... smoke had drifted out over the crowd and got caught in a bunch of laser beams and the whole thing was really ethereal and quite moving. The rest of the band came in and launched into the full version only for the last chorus.

They only played a couple of songs off the new album, and surprisingly "Resolve", their current UK single release, wasn't one of them. Most of the set was a really good bunch of stuff off all their previous albums -- Big Me, Monkey Wrench, All My Life, Up in Arms, My Hero, Have it All, Generator, Learn to Fly, Breakout, This is a Call, The One... All my favourites were there with only one exception ("Aurora").

There was a strange contrast for me, seeing the Foo Fighters in this kind of arena. I saw them play once before, almost exactly 8 years ago in 1997. That was at the Shepherds Bush Empire, a considerably smaller venue. The stage was pretty small, Taylor's drum kit was up on what looked like school stage-blocks, and there was a not-very-impressive silvery curtain hanging at the back of the stage. Well... this time around? A proper huge arena full of people, a huge stage, floor to ceiling banners with band logos on them, smoke effects, lasers, video screens... What a difference 8 years makes.

There's a rumour that next year they will tour again, but in smaller venues and playing acoustically only (I stress this is a rumour -- I read it on a message board somewhere and I can't remember where). If this does happen, I will *so* be there.

Anyway...

I started to get a really horrid cold yesterday, so I am going nowhere today. I'm going to wrap my Christmas presents and if I can get into the right frame of mind then I'll get on with chapter fifteen. I may also casually browse MTV for James Blunt videos...

Why?

I had a dream about him last night. Mr Blunt is a *very* good kisser.

Randomness

So tomorrow night I go to see the Foo Fighters play one of only two London gigs in their tour at Earls Court. I am v. excited! Haven't been to a good gig in a long while.

No more writing yet, but I'm still hoping to finish before Christmas so I can leave the book to brew.

My decorations are now up at home and the tree looks so cute! My new living room is cream/beige/chocolate brown so we decided to go with just gold and cream on the tree. This is what it looks like:

In another piece of randomness, today a book I bought on eBay arrived in the post. I flicked through it and what should fall out from page 87? A sticker of Martin Prince, the over-achieving teacher's pet from The Simpsons. Random indeed.

I'll maybe post again over the weekend with a mini-review of the Foos concert.

Just finished reading: Everybody's Hero by Karen Templeton

Pepsi, Pogues and Publicity

As I write this rather hotchpotch post, I am drinking Pepsi from a paper cup bought at Burger King. I've been a staunch Coca-Cola girl for a long time. Proper fat-style, too -- 'Diet', 'Caffeine-Free', 'Lemon', or 'Lime' have never managed to sway me, though I do like a 'Cherry' every now and then. But it seems the tide is turning, as Pepsi is tasting increasingly better to me. The only downer about the one I'm drinking now is that it has "Kong My Whopper" emblazoned on the side, which I find somewhat dubious. (And before anybody points it out, I know it's for King Kong.)

On to something else. Today I heard my favourite Christmas song -- Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl -- for the first time this festive season. Kirsty MacColl was killed by a speeding powerboat while diving with her sons in Mexico a few years ago. I watched a documentary last year in which her mother went to Mexico to try and uncover the truth. While she was there she met Kirsty's diving instructor, who was there when the accident happened. It was such a sad programme, and it's such a terrible story. They never really brought anybody to justice for her death, and the person whom the authorities believed to be driving the boat at the time was, as far as I can recall, fined roughly £60.

Nothing else happened.

You may know that The Pogues are re-releasing Fairytale of New York this Christmas, and the proceeds from sales will be split between homeless charities and the Justice for Kirsty campaign. Please think about buying the song -- you can visit www.justiceforkirsty.org to find out more.

On a separate and lighter note, I meant to post last week to say that my critique partner Nell's website has now gone live! She has extracts of her books on there, as well as a newsletter, tips on writing, and two great contests. Please visit at www.nelldixon.com!

The Penultimate

Whew.

I've finished chapter fourteen now. See updated word count across the page. Took some work, though! For various reasons it was a couple of weeks before today before I managed to get back to writing, and it took me almost half the day to get back into the right frame of mind -- I just had to spent time re-reading my last chapter and my plans. And listening to my character's songs again. But it worked! And now the chapter is done.

So next up is chapter fifteen -- the penultimate. And after that, it's The End. I will be so outrageously happy when I've finished this book.

I Will Have Finished A Book. (Maybe I'll make myself a t-shirt that says so...)

There's a saying or something, along the lines of "everybody has a book inside them, but hardly any of them will ever actually write it". All the How-To books I've read on writing say -- almost always in the first chapter -- that thinking you want to write a book and sitting down and doing it are two very different things. Lots of people think about it, some of them even start it, but not many people actually finish it.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I haven't actually finished yet. But it's so close!!!

All These Things That I've (Not) Done

Just about to go to bed as I have to get up early tomorrow to shower and set off for Christmas shopping. But earlier this evening I was thinking about my age. I'm 25. It hardly seems like that long ago that I was 20, which therefore probably means that before I know it I will be 30. There are things I'd like to achieve before I get there.

Five Things I Want To Do Before I'm Thirty:

1. Have a book published.
2. Be able to pluck up the courage to get on a plane so I can go to New York.
3. Learn to play the drums.
4. Actually take up jogging, rather than just talk about taking up jogging, and buying the accessories.
5. Be patient enough to let my hair grow past my shoulders.

Just finished reading: The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom

Saving It For the Weekend

I'm saving writing until the weekend now -- I'm just not going to have the energy this week. We have a big rush on at work on a psychology dictionary and I worked late tonight and will be doing so again. I've just had a nice long bath and am now drinking a hot chocolate with some baked potatoes in the oven. Aah, relaxation bliss...

P.S. Nell -- my PC is now marginally okay and emails are working. However, as yet I have no software, e.g. Word etc, and so although your last two chapters are sitting safely in my Inbox, I have nothing to open them with! Hopefully this will be sorted in the next couple of days... hopefully even tomorrow. Sorry!


Just finished reading: Still Thinking of You (Even Though I Shouldn't Be) by Adele Parks

A Visitor at Midnight

Power came back on yesterday after about an hour. However, was so addicted to my latest book (which I have now finished and will name at the end of this entry -- a new thing I've decided to do every time I've finished one) and random internet trawlings (curse the Amazon wish list), I didn't get any writing done. Have a feeling it wouldn't have been that great anyway as I wasn't really in the mood.

On a separate topic, when I created my blog my critique partner Nell told me about the "statcounter", whereby I can see who visits my blog and when. Well, not who, really -- there aren't names or anything -- mainly just country, time, ISP and computer platform.

For some time I have been receiving regular daily visits from somebody and all I know is that they are on Pipex and are in the UK. No town given. Maybe this is you as you read this -- I know you tend to come here somewhere around midnight or even later. Yet you remain silent, making no comment. Do I know you?

No pressure. Just curious.


Just finished reading: Daydream Girl by Bella Pollen

All Apologies

So I know my entries have been rather sporadic of late, but my mind has been completely on other things for the last week or two. Including the fact that we have had no heat in the office for the last week (but was finally fixed yesterday afternoon) and -- oh yes -- that when I got in on Monday morning, my PC was bust and had to be taken off to be repaired. It came back yesterday afternoon too, but reloading software etc was taking so long that I never even got to sit in front of it. I have spent the last week living a nomadic existence at work, carrying a pile of notebook, pens, copyholder, file log etc around and nicking people's PCs when they disappear, like an office cuckoo.

Hopefully though, I'll be able to get back on to my PC on Monday.

Then I woke up this morning to discover we have no power in the house. That was over an hour ago, and we still have no power. Luckily my laptop was charged and broadband seems to be able to connect without using the electrics. I am starting to worry, in the style of my mother, about the freezer defrosting.

Concerning my writing, I'm hoping to get on with the last three chapters of the haunted house book this weekend, presuming the power comes back on and I can recharge my laptop at some point. I had a busy weekend last weekend so for this one I have nothing planned except a roast chicken dinner tomorrow night at my sister's... mmm...

I kep having lines pop into my head for my next story -- the thriller-ish one. I've also had another idea, for a book not related to romance. Well, not as strictly so. It's something I think I might work on here and there once I go part-time in January.

Wish me power.

A Revelation.... and What The Cookie Said

Just had a revelation on chapter thirteen, which I still haven't written. And now I know why I just couldn't get myself to do it. It wasn't because I was nervous, really, it was because I'd put it in the wrong place! It's too early for them (despite the fact that I am three-quarters of the way through the book), so I've adjusted the scene and am now going to carry on with my original plan, which still fits, with the sex scene coming in one or two chapters' time instead. *I breathe with relief*

Had lunch with my Mum at the noodle bar today. My fortune cookie said "Your heart is a place to draw true happiness". I'm not really sure what this means -- it could be one of several things. That when I'm feeling down, I can just look into my heart to feel better? That I can only be happy inside my heart? That others can find happiness in my heart? I know fortune cookies are deliberately ambiguous (apart from the one on The Simpsons that told Homer to cheat on Marge or some-such), but it's still confusing.

P.S. Who are you, Pipex? I can't help wondering when I see that you're reading my blog at 3 in the morning...

Intermission

Finished chapter twelve. This is hard work! My characters are not even undressed yet and I'm still nervous as hell. I plugged my earphones into my laptop and was listening to Massive Attack's "Mezzanine" album through iTunes to try and help me, because I always think that album sounds really sexual. It helped a bit.

*Sigh*

I am now, however, just a little short of the three-quarters mark, which is pretty cool. I am hoping to finish the first draft of the book by Christmas, when I'll take a couple of weeks' break and not look at any of the work I've done. Then in January, when my working week at the office decreases from 5 days down to 4 (arranged specifically so that I can try and take my writing seriously), I can start all my editing. God knows how long that's going to take.