Road Trip!

Right, so, I spent the weekend in Arkansas (in the Little Rock area) for a family reunion. My wife's family, really, but one of the things about being married is that they're now my family, too.

The trip was a very good thing in terms of helping me shake off my sinus infection. Unfortunately, our return has reminded me of exactly how awful the quality of what-we-laughably-call-air is here in Dallas. In Arkansas, I was fine; here, I can barely walk outside before my sinuses close up and my throat gets sore. I'm strongly motivated to try some pollution-reducing measures, like bicycling to work, except that then I'd have to breathe more of that sh*t. I'd end up with bronchitis or emphysema or both - or else I'd have to be riding the bicycle while wearing one of those old World War II gas masks.

I'd move - seriously, I would; it would be a lot healthier - but our entire social support network is here. Honestly, there are weeks when I wonder if even that is worth the amount of time I spend being sick, or sick-ish, as a result of breathing all this pollution.

The downside of the trip is that it seriously cut into my writing time. (This was entirely worthwhile overall, but that still remains a downside.) However, I did get a few things done. Mainly, I finished converting my plot for Warrior's Legacy into an actual scene-by-scene outline. This means that I can actually get started on the rewrite (as long as I can stay healthy enough to concentrate). I'm very excited about this.

I also made a little progress on a short story I've been working on for a friend; this has been strangely slow going, considering that I know the setting and the characters involved quite well. I may try to finish that (and two other, related projects which are also running late) before I leap back into the novel.

It's basically a matter of time and attention, and I'm not really overflowing with either.