Woot! 12,030 words of swordfights, banter, and magic are finished, laid out on the page (or at least in the MS Word file...I'll be printing them later!). There'll probably be fewer words left once I get around to revising in a week or two, but for the moment, I'm feeling very happy to have finished the first draft of my first novelette.

Patrick and I celebrated with a trip out to the pub tonight for chips (French fries) and, on my part, a shot of mint chocolate Baileys. Since it was a Friday night - and more than that, the last Friday night before Christmas - the pub was absolutely packed with local office parties, mostly groups of middle-aged men trying to impress younger blonde secretaries (without much luck, as far as we could tell). It reminded me of the most hilariously awful dating advice for men I've ever read: "Ten Tips for Approaching Women". As a woman, I can only say: I would RUN AWAY if a man came up to me following this advice. (And I would have even if I weren't in a relationship already!) My favorite piece of advice from the list:

...[After spotting her buying a turkey sandwich at the grocery store] begin in a serious tone, accusing her of something like "I hope you saved some turkey for me," followed by a quick smile to let her know you are joking. Practice playing with your vocal tone with your friends -- notice the different reactions you get when you say the exact same thing using varied tones and fluctuations.

Ewwwwww.....