1 day, almost done...

It took me 12 hours to recover from yesterday's loss and be back at the place I was before I lost my work. I got there at midnight last night. THANK YOU to all of you who wrote me letters of encouragement. I so appreciate your words -- you don't know. (Or maybe you do -- I am grateful....)

We leave tomorrow for the beach, so it was important to take a day, today, to do family stuff, including banking, bill paying, etc., on a business day, before our week at the beach begins.

I did write my editor a long letter about what I see with this copy edit, and what I've done. I received a lovely letter in return this afternoon, and we are all set to move forward.

I sat with the story for two hours early this morning.

Now, at almost 9pm, the day is done, and I will read through one last time -- a double read-through: I will read the narrative -- the story itself -- and I will also read the copy editor's comments and make sure I have answered all of them... and make sure they are all still applicable, given all I have changed in this past week.

I still have a few copy-editor queries I cannot answer. I'll figure that out as well.

And I have not packed for our week away.

That seems unimportant, at the moment. I am 56 years old: I know how to pack -- at the drop of a hat -- for a week away with family. And I will do that, even if I'm pulling it together at 9am tomorrow morning.

In that case, I will have learned something new about how to pack to go out of town at the last minute. And... I have already learned a lot about how to stick with story and get it off to those who are waiting for it, so they can do their thing with it and we can keep going...

...even if -- as I have just this minute discovered --even if those I am handing the manuscript off to, are going on vacation next week.

Let's not talk about that.

Let's just do the work in front of us, shall we?

Yes.