Monday, June 20, 2005
Because of the aforementioned research regarding the abandoned East Side railroad tunnel in Providence (if there are any RISD students or alumni reading this, you probably know what I'm talking about), it was about two-thirty p.m. before I actually began writing yesterday. And the end of Chapter Five proved to be extremely difficult. At five o'clock or so, I still wasn't finished, though I'd written about 1,700 words, and my sentences were beginning to stray. I was getting as lost as Emmie in the snow. So I did something I rarely ever do. I made myself stop, with the intention of talking to Spooky for a bit and then coming back to it. However, Spooky was in the tub and I didn't feel like sitting in the bathroom, so I took the egg timer and went to the living room. I set it for half an hour, put it on the mantle, and then lay down on the chaise beneath the window. I just lay there, watching clouds, letting my head clear. When the egg timer rang, I went back to the iBook, somewhat refreshed, and wrote until about seven. I finished the chapter. Chapter Five is done, which means, as it turns out, that Part One ("Parallel Lives") is finished. I did a very solid 2,059 words yesterday. Chapter Five came to a whopping 13,948 words; so much for it being shorter. What was it I said earlier in the week? That I hoped the chapter would run no more than eight to ten thousand words, and here it is longer than Chapter Four! At this point, the novel, the first half of the novel is about 73,411 words long, which means the finished book should be about 140,000 words, still ten thousand under my "limit," and a little longer than Murder of Angels, so everyone should be happy. I like Chapter Five a lot. It might be the best part of the novel so far. But now I have to go back to Woonsocket and the Very Bad Shit that's going on up there, the fate of Soldier and Odd Willie Lothrop and Saben White at the hands of George Ballou. I've left them hanging for what seems like a long, long time (though it's actually been hardly any time at all).
Sophie had to be back at the vet this morning, just a routine glucose-level monitoring. She seems to be doing very well. Again, my thanks to everyone whose helped us out with her condition.
Last night, though I was so tired I considered just going straight to bed after dinner, Spooky and I finally watched Ed Harris and Paul Newman (and lots of other people) in Part One of Empire Falls on HBO. Quite good really, though it's very much Northern Exposure in New England (but, of course, Northern Exposure was only Local Hero in Alaska). I hear that Season One of Northern Exposure is out on DVD, so I'll have to track it down, and I don't think Spooky's ever seen Local Hero, one of my favorite films. One thing leads to another. Inch worm, winch worm, measuring the marigolds....
Don't mind me. I'm usually harmless.
After Empire Falls, I made myself take a bath before bed, during which I somehow managed not to nod off and drown. And that was yesterday, tiddley-pom.
Oh, I almost forgot. Setsuled (that's Leh'agvoi to us Nebari-types), has finished a new Nar'eth pin-up — Nar'eth as Lara Croft! I'll try to post it to Nebari.net tonight. I love crossover. And this reminds me that I never got the "DVD extras" for our winter special up on the page. Grrrr. Bad me. Anyway, I get a day off today, for having written so goddamn much in only eight days. I must find mischief.
10:38 AM
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