I’ve finished this round of manuscript rewrite. Hohhhhh! Such a glorious relief. It’s still early days, of course. Rewriting and editing and rewriting and editing takes a long, long time…. But for now, a window of carving pumpkins, handing out candy to children, and digging out my set of alien tentacle eyes…. (Not from my face. That would mean I’m an alien monster. I’m going to be looking for them in the recesses of my dresser drawers!)

Last night I was doing a final round of tidying of manscript. I still caught continuity gaps! Gasp! Sometimes my process is a little like Where’s Waldo…. Or, more like the bits and pieces he drops behind. Whart! I gasp. Where’s the high heel shoe?! Disappeared in the continuity ether! Like the socks, lost to the dryer.

I’ve missed so many readings and festivals in October…. Hoping to get out more in November. But also eager to jump into a new project that has been in hold-pattern for more than half a year as I worked on Darkness. There will be a window of space while Darkness is read by my editor. Big window, please!!!

I don’t know how some writers work on several novel side-by-side…. I’d love to hear tips on this. I still need to delve into singular projects, and don’t find it so easy to switch channels. What elementary school teachers note on progress reports these days as : Has significant difficulty in switching tasks.

Why is this seen as a negative trait, I ask you? (At the same time, I’d like the option of being able to do this, value judgements aside.)

But now, to carve a pumpkin and start the stew!