I’m not sure what possessed me, seriously. We occasionally take road trips, and maybe I wanted to test my limits. When I was younger I could drive 8-10 hours (with a few breaks) at a stretch, and a recent road trip to Chattanooga surprised me by revealing how easily drivable it was. So when I was asked to visit a remote site for a week to aid in a printer migration (vast herds of HPs and Epsons making their way across the tundra? Yeah, went there) rather than flying like a sensible person, I decided to drive. 983 miles. Probably not a good idea. Took two days, and 6-8 hours on the road is probably my limit these days. So I drove from MS to Lake Eerie in 2 days. Done it once. Probably don’t need to do it again.

Still, I do hate flying.  Which I hate to say, because I used to love to fly. Not now, and there’s no TSA when you drive. No tiny little seats only suitable for 12 year olds. Skinny and short 12 year olds. No 6 hour layovers. Stop where you want, take a break when you want. You have to dodge traffic and stay awake, of course, but nothing’s perfect.

Naturally this has put a crimp on the novel progress, though I’ve managed a bit anyway. I’ve crossed the 70K mark, with maybe 15-20K to go (I don’t write doorstops.That’s just the way it is). I’m still on track to finish before the end of the year. At this point Yamada is royally pissed off. We’re approaching the point where he does something about it. Something that is a bit of a departure for him. I know what happens, but I won’t be able to read it until I write it, and if it ain’t written down, it didn’t happen. An old piece of writing advice was to “write what you want to read.” That’s one I’ve always followed. I know some of you out there want to read a Yamada novel. So do I. This is the only way that can happen.

Later.