Chapter 34.5: Lazy Saturday

The weather sucks, chilly and grey, doing nothing to inspire me to fulfill mundane household tasks such as cleaning the gutters or scraping up last fall’s leftover leaves. So I’ve been organizing myself indoors while I await a phone call. We got ourselves a new batch of empty floppy disks (yes, there are still people who save on floppies), and I’ve cleared my email box of about 80 notes I’d been holding for this opportunity.

Everything gets a disk. One disk for background information for the next novel. Another for items for what I expect will be the fourth or fifth novel (perhaps I’m getting too far ahead of myself). Rolodex entries for people I’ll need to remember but won’t without electronic prompting. Items related to freelance work for a variety of clients. Each client has their own disk. Intermixed in all this was an IM conversation with my brother, who was watching the NFL draft at the time and predicting injuries to some newly minted millionaires.

Before I forget: Some people have asked me to keep their name and email addresses on a list so I can let them know about how things progress – when I sign with an agent, any publication news, etc. If anyone who reads this is interested, please send me an email. For those who don’t have my usual email address, send requests to mattsinclair@myway.com. I will not share your information with anyone.

I’m halfway through the edits of my novel, but I discovered a section that I’d intended to write and didn’t, so I have a potential snag. I don’t want to add too much, but there is something new that must be written. A scene or a reflection, clarity for what comes next. By the time I’m off to bed tonight, I’ll have read through 200 pages of the novel. I actually had a page that didn’t need any red marks on it. I think that’s the first one. Perhaps I’m being too hard on myself, but I doubt it. The edits are extensive but necessary. Whole chapters have been cut, and the next version will be cut even more.

I’m enjoying this.