Out to sea

All right, I'll admit it. Edits on Snowdance got under my skin this afternoon. But, you've got to understand some things. First, I wrote this book three years ago, so really, it needs a lot of polishing. And, as I said yesterday, time is tight. So I rose at 3 am, tended to other writing-related tasks, and then settled down to work on edits just about 8 am.

About 8:02, the crew--the wonderful crew!--of men who are working on insulating and siding our home arrived. All of them. And their trucks. And the trailer filled with boxes of siding material. That, seeing the siding for the first time, was really, really exciting. And under normal circumstances, having six very nice men in our yard wouldn't be at all distressing. Under normal circumstances. But as I wrestled with Chapter 6, my mind started to slip. I admit it, I came close--very close--to a meltdown. Fortunately my darling husband saw my impending melt, and took the situation in hand.

He hustled me, my current reading-for-pleasure book (one that I haven't written!) and a bottle of iced tea out the back door. We have a small pond on our property, and a leaky rowboat that we use on the pond. Riding the backyard sea is one of my favorite activities and my husband knows it, so he put me in the boat and pushed me away from the dock.

It was the best thing anyone could have done for me. I floated, rowed, read and sipped for two glorious hours. Then, I came back to Chapter 6, and the editing went well. Tomorrow I'll begin with the next chapter, and hopefully that will go easily, too. If not? I can always head out to sea again.

That seems to do the trick for me!