Cracked through page 335 of 407 this afternoon. That means there is some light showing at the end of the One Pass Manuscript Revision tunnel.

The thing is, I know I have to kill off a few more characters. And I'm not talking consonants and vowels. There are way too many people, and only one bathroom. The lineups are maddening and everyone's getting really bitchy about it.

And I'm really getting concerned about my ability to read my own handwriting when the time comes to try and input all of this into Word. (Scheduled in about 14 days, give or take.) Tin foil may have to be wrapped around my head so that I can channel long lost thought patterns. Sigh.

It feels good, but a part of me is getting all freaked out. Okay, a big part of me is already totally freaked out. Enough to make me consider taking on horrible contract work that would kill my spirit instead of putting Suds out there.

My lovely little novel is about to go out into the warm, comforting arms of my beta readers and scary things may happen. Scarier than the effects of eating an entire bag of Double-Stuffed Oreos has on my poor little pancreas.

Not that I've had any... today.

It's all for the best, and one day I'll appreciate the feedback. I've seen it happen before. Perhaps it's best not to think about it right now. :::calls late-night pharmacy for a refill of cheap Canadian meds:::

Oh, and one of my shiny new ideas from last month has now painted up some sandwich boards and is camped out next to the fridge. I'm trying not to notice, but she used glitter and everything...

Tangent alert: I received a few copies of a home renovation contractor magazine that contains the first article I've written for the pub. It looked pretty darn cool... until I checked the masthead. Apparently I didn't write anything for that issue, even though it's in there. I'll just tell people I was registered with the witness protection program when that issue went to press. Hey, I got paid, so I'm cool with it. We'll just see what happens next issue.

I've also won my first prize for October: a blender. Woo hoo! The funny thing is, I just purchased one for a fellow writer's Condo-of-Love housewarming last month. If only I had waited, I could have saved myself some cash. But then we wouldn't have been able to sip on daiquiris that night. ;)

Okay, back to the grind...