Yes, I did get the manuscript in record time from Krissie (there’s a really interesting group dynamic here. Krissie seems completely done with tinkering at copy edit level. Jenny and I seem not to know when to quit. Just a FEW more changes. I swear it’s finished now…). The problem, as Jenny said, was that the manuscript was coming in just about the same time as the armageddonlike ice storm that swathed the midwest. I got the manuscript at 6PM from an intrepid Fed Ex driver who was already slipping dangerously close to my car and trees, and at 9:30PM, our power went out. That was Thursday. This is next Tuesday. My power went back on late last night. This is my first day back home after taking my show on the road around my siblings(that after my husband ran away from home to Chile, where they’re having summer, of course—okay. So it was a business trip. He’s still warm). I spent twelve hours in my bed with chocolate, wine and a romance book. I consider it therapy.

But here’s the heroic part. I got the copy edit off Friday afternoon after working on it by Coleman lantern the night before to the symphonic sound of tree limbs snapping and crashing and transformers exploding. Quite atmospheric. Then it took me three hours to find someplace with electricity who could mail the thing off. Office Max is my new hero. The manuscript is in. Now we wait for the cover. In the meantime, we’ve been talking about posting an update on our characters, now that we’ve seen how they turned out. Then, maybe a peek at the first POVs. Until then, I’m scanning for generators on Ebay.