Merry Christmas...

And in the words of Charles Dickens, "God bless us, every one."

Life is a struggle...

Clearly, I wasn't handling my counselors departure as well as I thought, but I seem to have finally come through, I think, in large part, because of Christmas. There is much I do not understand about love, especially God's perfect love, but I do know that Christmas is an expression of that love, as is Easter. I'm baffled by a world that demands Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. Is there any greater lie than denying the reason for the season? How is it possible to be happy if one lies to one's self? So, Merry CHRISTmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ, God's only Begotten Son. Christ is the reason for the season, and I am daily grateful for that gift given to each of us; we decide if we will accept or reject it, but it was given just the same. Praying for the peace that only Christ may give.

Slowly settling again...

After the slow death of my modem, and the tension of intermittent internet service, all is back to normal. It's taken a few days, but I'm re-establishing my routines. I worked on The Project, and made notes for another book. That is one of the frustrating things: Keeping my focus on one thing at a time, but if I don't write down the other ideas, I find myself unable to think about anything else. Maddening.

Breath in, breath out...

I did it. I cut the scene the judges all said seemed out of place. I saved it to another document. It might be useful in another story, or later in the trilogy. I don't know. The joy of cut and paste: I don't have to say goodbye to things I love for ever. Keep breathing. A part of me reasons that I'm being silly. It's not a critical scene. If it were, the judges wouldn't have wanted it axed. I like the scene, but then I remind myself that it doesn't actually move the story along. It's done. Now, onward to more editing.

How did so much time slip away?

Life turned upside down, for a while, but seems to have found its way right side up again. Today, I worked on THE PROJECT, the WIP, and the completed historical novel that needs serious editing. Not a bad bit of work.