The full manuscript!

I printed out the full manuscript for the very first time on Saturday. I feel like I should have it bronzed!

I’ve now merged all the individual chapters into a single Word document, and have spent the last few days working on reformatting it so it can be navigated smoothly and reads well. In the next few days, I plan to add comments to the document so I can easily track which areas need more work. Infrastructure work, and not terribly interesting, but it needs to be done before I can move forward with editing.

I’m also starting to plan my next round of interviews. I’d like to interview artists from some more genres, and there are topics where I still need more material. So as soon as I figure out what questions I want to ask, I’ll start scheduling more interviews. I think not a whole lot more of them, though – maybe five or six artists, tops. I already have a few people in mind.

Because I have such a short timeframe in which to write the book – it’s due in just over six months (186 days, to be exact) – I’m trying hard to be disciplined about reserving time to work on it. My goal is at least 11 hours of focused work per week – 1 hour a day on weekdays and 3 hours a day on weekends, working with a 20-minute timer to ensure that I stay focused the entire time I’m working. This method worked very well for me during the writing retreat, so I want to continue it now. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but focused work is really draining (and productive!) It’s remarkable how much I got done in six hours of such work per day at the retreat. If I can do 11 focused hours a week, I think I’ll make pretty good progress.

Weaving-wise, I’m still deciding what to do next. I’m debating between a fine-threads shawl with sea turtles, a set of twill napkins in 10/2 cotton to match my placemats, and a set of waffle-weave bath towels. The first would be the most intellectually interesting, of course, but I’m deliberately trying to avoid anything too interesting. It is way too tempting to be weaving when I should be writing! But I also have some study group commitments that the fine-threads sea turtles would satisfy. So I am still contemplating. I’ll probably start winding a new warp this weekend.

Meanwhile, do you remember the roll of paper towels I rescued from Tigress just before leaving?

Well, I wound up not needing to use them. So when I was packing up to drive home from the writer’s retreat, I tossed them into a box of other stuff and brought them back. Then I set down the box and went out with Mike to run errands and get some food…

You really don’t believe, do you, that someone as beautiful and regal-looking as this:

could possibly be as mischievous as this?

Oh well…we love her anyway. (Even though she always wins!)