The novel-in-progress-with-the-working-title-Moving Day proceeds apace. After 12 days, the current manuscript sits at 21,665 words (not counting the thousands of previously-written words based on the same idea.) Since the original manuscript for The Verb 'To Bird' came in at just over 86,000 words, I can at least look at what I've done so far and consider it significant, if not yet complete. My hands hurt, but I haven't missed a day yet.

I've gotten to look at several bits of Kelly's N-I-P-W-T-W-T-Licking Melvin and am quite delighted. Her description of the main character's holiday job at Belk's as a "Giorgio Spray Bitch" is especially wicked and funny. I'm biased, obviously, but when all you people eventually see the name "Kelly Dalton" on a book cover, you really should pick it up. Honest.

I've gotten about nine hours of sleep in the past two nights as I've been devoting myself to a) grading papers (because the end of the marking period is coming up and my students want to revise them), b) doing dorm duty (because they make me), and c) writing the novel (because I promised.) This afternoon, I hope to make up for some of that deprivation.

Oh, and I had another idea for the title: You Must Remember This.

Or maybe I'll cop a lyric from Paul Simon instead of Casablanca and call it All the Crap I Learned in High School.
12:01 PM

.................................