Well, dear readers, even though I finished a book, I still had to futz and finesse the final day’s writing yesterday morning. I only got four hours of sleep, so I got to it around eight in the morning or thereabouts. I had about seventeen or eighteen pages to do, but thankfully I was really happy with those pages for the most part. I did add a few things, delete a few things, smooth out the usual amount of stuff, and in the process added one more page for a total of 462. I then sent the pages to Muse Margaret. Then the day was mine all mine. It always is the same when finishing a book. Getting to the finish line is really intense and when you get there you feel incredible elation and accomplishment but it’s also a very emotional moment. The next day, you have to deal with a lot of conflicting feelings and always a tiny bit of depression. I’m pretty good at that stuff after twenty-four books but still you really do go through it. I decided on Panda Express for food – orange chicken and string bean chicken – and that arrived quickly, and it was very good and there was a LOT of orange chicken and almost twelve hours later, I’m still full from it. Then I just did stuff on the computer for fun. There was no way I was going to move right to the project with David Wechter – I’ll do that over the weekend – I just need not to write anything and just play. I did a quick bank run to make a small residual deposit and came right back home. I watched some irritating YouTube videos, and then got the Muse Margaret call and it was exactly what I hoped it would be, i.e. she just loved the final batch of pages and only had two little typo things to fix. I was so pleased because you always want to get the last sixty pages exactly right and a LOT of stuff happens in the last sixty pages of this thing. And best of all, she loved the book’s final line, and it really is very good – as I said, a gift from heaven. As with every book I’ve written, early on I stop thinking of myself as the writer because I feel that once I’m into it and have the structure and style right and the characters right, then the book writes me as much as I write the book, if that makes any sense. Then, miraculously, I had a modern major miracle.
I did finish watching Day of the Jackal. I know it’s that of as a classic but I found it a completely odd movie, I thought it had surprisingly clunky direction at times by Fred Zinnemann, and it just kept jumping from thing to thing. Yes, a compelling story in its way, but at two hours and twenty minutes, too long for its own good. Anyway, I found it to be a bit disappointing given its reputation.
That was really about it for the day and evening.
Today, I’ll be up by ten, I’ll take the book file to get printed so I can proof it, and then I’ll be at a casting session from noon o’clock to three. Then I’ll go to the mail place and then there’s a potential early dinner that may or may not happen. If it doesn’t then I’ll probably bring something home from somewhere. Then I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is another casting session, same time, same place, and then I can have a partial ME day, although I will jump in and start working on the new project with David Wechter. Monday, I’ll begin proofing the book, which should take a few days. Otherwise, next week I’ll settle on the cast I want for Doug Haverty’s short play, but I’ll get caught up on the project with David Wechter. We’ll also start playing around with cover ideas for the new book, which is always fun and exciting.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by ten, take the book file to get it printed for proofing, have a casting session, go to the mail place, maybe have an early dinner with friends or, if not, bring something home, then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Who were/are your favorite character actors from the Golden Age through, say, the 1970s – you know, when there WERE actual character actors. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that the Muse is happy and that I’m happy.