New Book topped 20,000 words today, a very good sign. It might have been another thousand words along, since I had a burst early in the week, but Thursday was a slack day in which various other problems intruded. Glad of the extra words in hand, I didn’t push today beyond what I needed to finish over 20,000. Important not to pump the well dry again.
However, since I have copy edits of Cold Welcome coming up and then WorldCon, it’s also important to get a little ahead if I can. A few more bursts in the next two weeks and I’ll feel better about the gaps that both the copy edits and the trip to KC will cause.
My former web designer/manager (Ruta Duhon of Willowbrook Designs) has retired (retired in March, actually) and I now have a replacement in Karen Shull, a friend, librarian, photographer, fabulous cook, and generally great person who has (though it’s something about her I didn’t know) experience with Dreamweaver. She has taken over the management of all four sites and their embedded blogs, so that if I have no internet connection, I can call her and ask her to put up an announcement explaining that I’m not missing, just silent.
She took these pictures during a recent visit, in our backyard water garden. That’s a better tadpole picture than I’ve ever gotten! She got one with the hind legs less developed, too.
In other news, there’s not much. I really can’t talk about NewBook right now without spoilering both Cold Welcome and NewBook in the same post, which is…not a great idea. It’s very hot down here (hotter than when Karen took those pictures, July 2) and so outdoor work for the Elder Set (both of us over 70) is limited to early and late or…if it’s still well over 90 when the sun goes down…just early.