- Start a second round of line edits on Fire, Kiss, Electric Chair. My editor at Putnam is known as one of the most thorough in the business. The joke is that he could write an eight-page letter suggesting changes to a three-page picture book. The end result is good. But getting there is not half the fun.
- In February, teach an intensive weekend workshop jammed full of everything I have learned in the last ten years (and ten or so books).
- Read and comment on 10 pages from 20 participants in said workshop.
- Read a bunch of YA books and write two YA columns for the Oregonian.
- Fit in a little minor surgery.
- Plan our trip to Europe. 65 days from now, we leave for two weeks. We still don't know exactly where we are going. I've put more energy into saving for this trip than I have in planning it.
- At work, survive our one–millionth departmental reorg.
- Become reacquainted with healthy eating, and resist the siren call of crap.
- And, most important and most fun, work with a co-author to create 50 pages and a detailed outline for a new mystery series.
While most of this stuff is good, I'm majorly stressed out. I've done something to my leg (my guess is I aggravated my ITB - iliotibial band - by some long runs around the first of the year) and now can't sleep at night because my knee and hip aches when I lie still and sends shooting daggers of pain if I try to adjust my position. Later today, I'll be heading off to urgent care with my laptop.
Good wishes appreciated. Also, has anyone been to Cinco Terra AND Venice? We might have to make a choice. I'd also be interested in hearing from anyone who has been to Cinco Terra OR Venice OR Amsterdam. Would you go again and why? I haven't been to Europe for a long, long time, and spouse and 11yo never.
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