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Check-in and Other Stuff

Things accomplished since last check-in:

- Added 186 words to The Page & The Magician (but tomorrow IS a holiday for me...), so I'm sitting at 58,328 with 13,219 to go
- Rearranged book pieces as the clutter was making my mind upset
- Put together my bike trainer and got my bike onto it
- Met with a lady about finding out more about my ancestry
- Practiced guitar
- Had a massage
- Went to a Divertimento Orchestra performance
- Biked for 30 minutes on my trainer (bad idea before Iaido class as my legs died quickly during class)
- Practiced Iaido
- Converted the asian screen I bought earlier this year into a headboard (it's now flat and doesn't have open bits)
- Began knitting a new carry bag for my phone as ladies pants often don't have pockets or don't have big enough pockets to carry things like phones
- Watched more episodes of Castle (loved the ninja episode and the 1970s episode!)

Yet to do:

- Quizzes and an assignment for my guitar course
- Make supper
- Make homemade egg rolls without eggs (A tomorrow thing, but I can put more meat in them too)
- Finish going through old costumes and place in storage
- Make puffed rice treats (the GF rice krispies have added vitamins that aren't friendly for the yeast sensitive... jerks)

I've decided to give up on Wuthering Heights. I'm not finding it an enjoyable read. Life is short after all and as a modern author, I need to be reading great examples of contemporary literature. Writing evolves and I need to be in tune with what works today. As Mark Twain said, "A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read." I'm generally a tenacious person, but I don't feel bad putting Wuthering Heights down to read something more enjoyable. There are so many books in the world that no one has to suffer through a story they don't like.

I'm finding it a little difficult to get to writing what I think are the last few scenes of my novel. I'm not sure why. I have a battle scene to figure out. Am I procrastinating because I'm secretly dreading editing? I do feel scared that it's not long enough, so when editing comes, I won't have enough words on the pages. I need to get over this fear though as I think it's stopping me from progressing. Maybe I'm scared of the next steps as they're so unknown and I'm a person who likes having information before jumping into a situation. Maybe I'm scared that the people that told me I couldn't achieve this dream were right.

I think I need to figure out what other magic creatures will be involved in the battle and that will help me write the last battle scene. I have some other small scenes to write too, but I feel like those can be left to editing. I might fall short of my 20,000 word goal because the story will be completed in less words than I thought. I'm not sure if that is good or bad. I doubt these things I'm feeling about my book at this stage are unique. I bet other writers go through this, which is somewhat comforting.

Anyway, I'm off to cook the pork that will go in several meals this week. Then I plan to eat leftovers for supper and finish knitting that bag while I watch more episodes of Castle. I am pondering on my battle scene though. I think it's going to be quite a spectacle.

Ciao,
R~

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