birthdays and mortal Mesozoic mice

Happy birthday to my friend, Allison! Today is the final official day of the virtual birthday party for Allison and Jodi, though stragglers are welcome. Please feel free to drop by and say hello. Attendees so far: pbristow, tibicina, eviltofu, kitanzi, janeg, thette, mdlbear, braider, filkertom, zencuppa, unkbar, patoadam, tnatj, thatcrazycajun, djbp, msminir, blueeyedtigress, vixyish, sdorn, filkergem, barkerland, trystel & Luis), pwi1, it_aint_easy, andpuff, damedini, mvt, faxpaladin, poltr1, frstythesnowman, sposter, unclechristo, sexybass, scs_11, Dave Clement (via sexybass), sal_utations, Erin, beige_alert, peteralway, Bill Roper, missquirt, ldwheeler, fireskin, and starmalachite. It's been fun seeing old and new friends drop by, though I know quite a few are still at or on the way home from Filkcontinental in Germany. Party ends at midnight. :-)

I'm submerged in my novel writing these days. I have a few illustration and writing assignments between now and Christmas, but I've basically decided to focus on my novel(s) until then. Right now I'm doing a lot of cutting and toning. Sort of sounds like a painful cosmetic procedure, doesn't it? I'm being ruthless and cutting out anything in my book which doesn't contribute to the story, no matter how happy I am with the writing. It's hard; I don't think I could have done this right after finishing the book...a good reason for setting aside a story for a while before trying to self-edit.

Cutcutcut. Owowow. But through the pain, I can see a leaner, stronger story emerging, and I'm very happy with the improvements in the story and also in my overall writing; anything that makes me a better writer is a good thing.

Speaking of pain...my favourite Mesozoic mice have finally kicked the bucket in the latest Parry and Carney. Alas, poor Ferd and Dan. I knew thee too briefly.



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