I am done drafting!

No, really, though I don't blame you if you don't believe me.

I have been working on drafting this speculative fiction project since 2017. In my defense, it's a lot of story. Also in my defense: family health, my health, and the pandemic.

Also in my defense: you can only guess how long it took me to draft my second novel, which I actually started writing more than twenty years before the first. This story had also been rattling around for about two decades before I started writing it. Also, the story is actually sixteen different pieces of varying lengths, although that might change.

But did I mention that the draft is finally done?

I am taking the month of September off. I will not touch the story until October 1 when I am ready to start transcribing. In the meantime, I'm going to delve into the myriad projects that have been making the back of my head itchy, including but not limited to:

• my "personal knowledge management project" which includes taking "temporary" notes from just a few more books and going over my other notes to turn them into permanent notes
• differential equations
• chemistry
• learning more of the Korean language (at this point I think I need a conversation partner, or will soon)
• planning a thrifty kitchen renovation
• sending out newsletters again
  

I want to say that's all I'm going to have to do for the month of September, but it isn't. Some are joyful -- going to my sister-in-law's wedding -- and some are excruciating (dealing with a parent's declining health as well as procedures for a sibling's health issues). I suspect this month is going to be busy, so this is a good time to not feel the pressure of the story weighing on me. (Thank goodness for exercise.)

...and to celebrate! I'm really bad about marking milestones, but this one is important. Maybe a banger cake for my birthday at the end of the month? A good restaurant? A movie of my choice...no, never mind. But...something, even if it's just a satisfying math problem. Because this is a big deal, and it was a long time coming.

Deb in the City