Buggers!! It's February...

I tried, I really did, but my goal of finishing the book by the end of January is a bust.  I had too much to do last week, what with shopping, baking cakes, fixing birthday dinners, and guzzling Prosecco--though that last part was just to keep the Birthday Boy from having to drink alone.  Really.  Okay, okay.  Not.

I lost three days of writing, some due to the above and some due to phone calls and dog walks and plot changes.  On Wednesdays, almost without fail, I talk to my BFF in Idaho, but last week I also talked to my sister, and I think I even got in a call to my mother.  In my family we can't just say hello...how are you...great...goodbye.  We don't even scratch the surface until at least an hour into the call.  This used to drive my Dad nuts.  "You can say everything you need to in five minutes!"  Poor man, he just didn't get it...

And, the bizarre way the plot changed really threw me.  I'm writing like mad on Saturday, when out of the blue, this one character tosses in a complete shocker that I totally didn't expect.  Seriously.  This bomb was not even in my head.  I'm typing away, and suddenly this guy says blah blah, and I'm staring at the words, going, "What?  You did...?  You couldn't have...?  What?"

Sometimes I think my fingers are just channeling these characters and I have absolutely nothing to do with what's happening in the story.  The bomb was great, hit the target dead on, and tied up a loose thread I didn't even see dangling.  And, as if that wasn't enough of a Twilight Zone moment, on Sunday a minor character shows up and lobs his own grenade.  Both plot changes are good, and add to the story, but it's sort of daunting when your fictional characters write better than you do. 

The changes also added another chapter I hadn't planned on, so is it any wonder this book will be longer than War & Peace??  Okay, not really.  Now that I'm approaching the finish line--and know how the book ends--I have to go back to the beginning and edit out copious amounts of crap.  I think I've said before that my opus will end up a short story by the time all is said and done.

So, my new goal is Valentine's Day, though I'm soooo hoping to be done before that.  I don't have too much more to write (famous last bloody words), and I'm down to the chaos and mayhem climax of the last few chapters.  With any luck, I will soon be celebrating the momentous occasion...assuming my interferring characters will stop shooting smart bombs at me.

Here's a cool photo of my writing space.  My view out the window (looking over the lid of my laptop) is green trees, hedge and sky.