Approximately 15,000 more words.

Likelihood of success: low.

But not zero! I’ve had three very low word count days in a row, so maybe they can be followed by three very high word count days. It’s a goal, anyway. Yesterday I really intended to write, but I spent the morning working on formatting A Lonely Magic for print and in the afternoon, I was seriously tired. Not because formatting is so difficult, although it is a job for a perfectionist, but because Thanksgiving really does take a lot. It’s not the cooking that’s the problem, although my gravy took an awful lot of stirring, but when you’re feeding eleven people in a house where usually a big meal involves three people, there are a host of other chores. Like moving furniture around, setting up tables, dragging chairs in from the garage, getting the step stool out about a hundred dozen times to retrieve the good china from the top shelves, and then the serving dishes, and then the trivets, and then the search for the serving platters… I even ironed the tablecloths because they really, really needed it. When I think, oh, it’s just cooking a turkey, sure, that’s no big deal, but in fact, there’s a lot of movement and carrying involved with setting up a big meal.

So yesterday I was tired and today, to be honest, I’m still tired. I would happily have another day of zoning, maybe even some television watching. But instead I am going to write, because I think I could still finish NaNo. Not the real thing, of course, but the 50,000 words of one form or another.

In other blog post news… nope, got nothing. I posted the new cover of ALM yesterday and couldn’t figure out a way to ask if people saw Fen’s face without, you know, actually asking and making it obvious, so I am left to wonder how many people missed it. But I feel like ALM and everything around it needs to become for me a thing that I can love so much that no one else’s reaction matters.

That’s an aspirational position, of course — I’m a hard-core people pleaser, so I want other people to love the things I love — but it’s good for me. It’s… hmm, I can feel myself wandering into one of those deep psychological self-analysis moments, tied to middle school and moving a lot, managing friendships, and so on, but I’m going to resist the temptation because it’s not getting the writing done that I want to get done. If I’m not writing Grace, I should be setting up Christmas lights while a super-tall person is available to help me with them. Well, a super-tall person and also a handy spotter for roof-climbing purposes. I don’t mind going on the roof, but I like to know that someone’s there to call 911 should I fall and break my neck. Or really any bones. Doesn’t have to be the neck.

Right, back to Grace. Many words to be written today, so off I go to write them. If you’re a fellow NaNo’er, also not finished, good luck today. Write lots!